We just do not need any Ice, but it looks like it will go south of us. But the snow will not. It was 62 yesterday and I was out putting in brush piles. We sure have some good ones and are just about finished. Fishing should be good soon. Striper fishermen are having a hard time now and should be following the birds (joke) but bass fishing is good. The lake is clear and open water fish are roaming and hard to find. It does not matter since it will be too cold for me to fish starting tomorrow. The ice fishermen can have the cold weather. I had enough of that when I lived in Maine and Minnesota. Our surface water temperature is still 45 degrees but that should drop if it snows much. The lake level is dropping fairly quickly with continuous light generation for over two days and has dropped to under 549 to 548.93 and is still higher than it usually is this time of year when they typically lower it in anticipation of the spring rains. It usually starts to rise in the last part of February. We will see. It is in good shape now. It will not be long before the night bite for stripers will start as they go to the long shallow banks to simulate a spawn. There are some very good ones close to Blackburns resort and Boat Rental. We have a lot of customers who love to fish for them. Bink says March 15 and he is usually right. You can fish for walleye on shadowy banks with soft plastics before dark and switch to a stick bait at dark for stripers. The walleye will have spawned by then and moved back down stream to the deeper water. The walleye population continues to grow on Norfork with about a half of million stocked in 2014 by Missouri and Arkansas combined and many short ones already there. The size minimum is 18-inches with a limit of four. I got most of my big ones in late May last year but they bite well in late February and early March part way back in the creeks as do big crappie and stripers on jerk baits in the morning. When the surface temperature hits 50 in the creeks the fishing will open up. Make sure your stick baits run true. I like Husky jerks best 5-inches long suspending some with light bottoms and light green tops for moonlit nights and clear water and some with green bottoms and black backs for cloudy weather and stained water. Put on some clear 6-8 lb. line on your spinning reel and take off all of the snaps, swivels, leaders and spider line and come on down. We will not charge you too much.
