Norfork Lake fishing and lake conditions by Scuba Steve from Blackburns Resort and Boat rental (click here for comments)

The lake level is 562.40 and still rising with little generation. I hope we do not get a big rain because it will not be a surprise to anyone except the people who manage the dams. They seem to get tricked about 3 out of five years. They miss out on a lot of opportunities to lower the lake when they can. Hold and hope. The water temperature is approaching 60 degrees on the main lake and a little more in the backs of the creeks in shallow water. If the sun is shining the shad are in the backs of the creeks and get shallow looking for warmer water in the late afternoon. The white bass and smaller bass are there too and push them to the top. This does not mean the top water bite is starting. It starts in earnest  when the shad spawn and that is about 65 degrees or higher. The threadfin spawn several times a year. It is a good place to be though to catch some fish. I am not much into white bass fishing but they are better than nothing. A lot of nice crappie are being caught on the bank back in the creeks on grubs, jigs and minnows near any exposed wood. The shoreline in the creeks is pretty clear and several bass are staging under my dock both big and little. We have a few days to go before spawn even if it does warm up. The north wind has been very persistent. The back of Blackburns creek is full of spawning carp and they are causing a big rukus.  It is very tough to predict when things will happen. You just have to be out there when it does. It will.