Norfork Lake Arkansas near Mountain Home in the Ozarks Mountains Region Fishing Report and lake Condition by Scuba Steve from Blackburns Resort and Boat Rental.

The lake level is 553.79 and is up just a bit in the last 24-hours with just a few hours of generation. There is no effort to drop the lake. The surface water temperature is 54-degrees and the White River at Newport is 11.28 feet and dropping slowly. The water is trying to clear but it has been windy and the windblown banks are cloudy.  Wind, big moon, dropping water level and cold fronts can make for some tough fishing but we are on the downhill side of March. Scuba Steve has been busy starting up cabins and servicing boats but still takes a couple of hours to go fishing everyday and is catching some good fish but has to work for every one of them. I am not going to go out in the dark and cold with an underwater light on my boat and wait for the shad and fish to come to me. I do not hate them that bad. A few Stripers are being caught at and after dark on their spawning banks with a stick bait. I am catching a few very large Crappie casting a jig or grub and minnow past the brush and letting it sink into it but there are less big ones now and more barely 10-inches for some reason. The big ones spawn first but the water is not warm enough yet. At 60 degrees the males will stage on the spawning banks. I like to wait until the larger ones spawn and move back on the brush piles and then catch them. This is the time when I mostly Bass, Walleye and Bluegill fish. Catfishing will be next. Scuba Steve likes those Flatheads and Norfork has some good ones. Bass fishing is getting better and this will continue as the pre-spawn bite gets closer. Bink is catching some White Bass back in Big Creek and others are catching some smaller ones in Bennetts in about 7-feet of water. The best spring fishing is from April 15th to June 1st and the top-water bite is the best then also. Now is the time to reserve the cabin and boat rental of your choice. Blackburns is the first resort to fill up and if you wait too long you will have to pay much more elsewhere. Compare prices and give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation. It is nice here and the price is right. Scuba Steve will show you where his brush piles are located. We especially welcome Veterans and Police.