Hand Cove Greg

Day 2 was a great day to be on the lake. Blue skies, light winds, and not a drop of rain. Here are the winners Hannaford/Cooley 24.14 10 fish Thorne/Mitchell 23.61 9 fish Moser/Zeigler 23.56 10 fish Foster/Maguffee 23.09 10 fish Horne/McLean 22.84 10 fish Turner/Turner 21.30 10 fish Henderson/Vanhock 19.25 10 fish Dail/Hovis 19.18 9 fish Davis/Davis 18.55 9 fish Stuart/Newberry 17.23 10 fish Evans/Fox 16.91 8 fish Friday Big Bass Stone/Stone 4.72 Saturday Big Bass Drumright/Reihm 5.28 45 out of 54 boats weighed fish. Photos here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.216594251693796.59926.109667929053096 Congrats to the winners and thanks to all anglers that made our derby possible. See ya on the lake!

Call 870-492-5113 for more information

Rules and registration form http://www.norforklakechamber.com/tournament.htm

Info on this tournament http://www.hope4cf.com/2011CFBasstourney.pdf

The lake was looking kinda rough for a few days, but is recovering nicely. Still a brown strip of water in the main channel that gets smaller every day. Most creeks are fairly to extremely clear depending on the wind direction. Fishing is very good right now in the brushy shorelines and creeks. Stripers are following thier normal spring pattern although the main lakepoint boils seem to be a little more frequent.

It's on, and you'll get parked somewhere.

Here is a link for current ramp information on Norfork Lake. It's on the left-hand side of the page http://www.norforklakechamber.com/lake_level_conditions.htm

And Chuck, walleye are stacked at night at Woods Point, School Bus, and just east of White Bluff. You're traveling too far west.

The Cystic is Saturday, May 14th. It is a one day only tourney. The Bass Cat tourney is cancelled for sure. The guys are correct about the striper bite, it's great. Find a boil early in the morning or the early evening and you'll be impressed with the top water action. Lake access is good. The Norfork Lake business folks know how to get your boat on and off the water. Smallies are really picking up, big ones. 5lb plus largemouth are become more common. The lake is clearing fast. Nost creek/coves are crystal. Still a little stained in the main channel. Debris is thinning. If you think about it, there might be a few acreas spread ove 20,000 acreas. Wide open operation? You can hit a log on any lake at any time. Just keep a watchful eye open. By the way, Norfork Lake does not flood, it just holds water, more some days that others. It was designed to do exactly this. Good fishing reports are at http://www.norforklakechamber.com/fishing_report.htm Lake conditions are here http://www.norforklakechamber.com/lake_level_conditions.htm

Last Thursday the night bite was incredible! Stripers were hitting hard in the dam area and east. Nice walleye were boated and the small and large mouth bite was very good. Top water the next morning was outstanding. The storms slowed things down a little this weekend, but the bite started to pick up again today. Got to be on the lake early for some topwater action. Early means pulling out of the boat dock at 5 AM. As they say in the Ozarks, "Go git you some".

The spawn is "in progress". Actually bass fishing is pretty good right now. Sticks and jerks are the rule on my end of the lake. Most of the action is early morning and late evening although the season anglers are having a good time most any part of the day. It's all dependant on the weather, the wind, the color, and the stink. Ya know, fishing. It depends on everything. The only sure thing is the trout tanks at the boat shows.

And one more thing, higher water levels the last few years have exploded the fish population in Norfork Lake. Fishing has been incredable this year for serious anglers and is expected to be for years to come. I know this because of the number of freezer Zip-Loc bags I'm selling. Can't keep them in stock.

The BassCat tournament will be May 13 & 14. Sure there will be boats on the lake days before, but the greatest amount of traffic will be on those days. Keep in mind the Norfork Lake is over 40 miles long so you can fish lots of area and not be impacted by the tournament. There is plenty of room for all. The Norfork Lake Chamber of Commerce provides lots of current information for anglers regarding lake conditions, species, and fishing reports. Keep an eye on their website as your trip gets closer. http://www.norforklakechamber.com/index.htm By the way, facilities and services are much better on Norfork.

For places to stay, check out http://www.norforklakechamber.com/resorts.htm

The best breakfast is at 101 Gteat American Dinner

Not likely but wish I was. Opening day for my resort is right around the corner. Still getting my winter remodel projects completed. If you get in my neck of the woods (or lake) stop in and say hey.

You'll be arriving at what is thought to be the very beginning of the night bite/top bite. Suspending rogues tend to be the choice for stripers and walleye. Bass will hit most anything but tend to like jerks and rogue types. Spoons are a good bass choice for the daytime. Expect the real action to be shortly after daybreak and after sunset into the evening. Dark back with light bellys are good colors. Watch for the whites is the creeks. They are just starting to school and come up. Will be hitting well in a few weeks. Of course all of this depends on everything. You know how fishing is. Once you arrive, make a trip to 101 Grocery and Bait. Tim is pretty free with current info.

http://www.fishnorfork.com/ is a good source of general fishing information about Norfork Lake. There is a fishing report page that has become pretty popular. A few of the reports are a little out of date right now but you will find that as we get into March, the updates will appear about weekly. There is a fair amount of species specific webpages in this website also. Don't miss the write ups about striper fishing. Fishing for those Norfork Lake stripers can be quite a kick. During the spring, many anglers find their way to the sound end of the lake. Over the last few days guys have been spending quite a bit of time in the Big Creek and Brushy Creek arms chasing bass, white bass, and the occational walleye. This has been a daytime bite. Expect a very early morning and night bite to develope as we get closer to April 1st. Clear water Norfork Lake is not difficult. You just need to remember if you can see down, they can see up. Use lite line. Spool up with 8 pound. Some guys use 4 and 6 pound every day. Leave anything larger than 12 at home. And be sure to bring sun screen. Spring comes early to Norfork Lake. My link