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

Mike Eakle with some good ones. He had to work hard for them though.Image title

The lake level is 557.77 and has dropped 2-1/2 inches in the last 24-hours. The surface temperature was just about 50 when I went out yesterday but I found 53 in the very backs of some major creeks. The threadfin shad start spawning at about 58 degrees and that is when the top water bite will begin in earnest. Shad spawn on the surface.  There are a lot of shad shallow now for some reason and have some fish feeding on them but mostly open water fish are scattered and deeper. It is hard to find a big school of them and then stay on them   The lake is clearing and is clearest near the bank. Big Creek was still a little brown but a good color for fishing. The brown is gone in Blackburns area but is still so in the Red Bank area. I tried open water fishing with little success and then went bass and crappie fishing. Float creek is a good place to start. Look for brush in 35-feet of water and be prepared to work hard for them. Fish have moved in under my dock but we mostly save them for children learning to fish. I feed them every day and have new brush there. The weather has been good but got a little windy yesterday afternoon. I cannot predict when things will happen (nobody can) but i will be out there when it does and you will be the first to know. Mike Eakle caught some good ones on the 1/4 ounce Bink's spoon and I am still using the 2-inch grub for both bass and crappie. The first two weeks of March is always tough but if trollers find an active school of fish the action can be fast for a few minutes and then nothing for hours. You only hear about the time they find fish and not when nothing is caught for days. There are a lot of big crappie and bass in this lake. Blackburns still has the best prices on both cabins and rental boats and you first boat stall is free.