Dave Titus with some good ones.
The lake level is 553.71 and has dropped 3/4 inch in the last 24-hours with about 5-hours of running one generator. The White River is at 3-1/2 feet so they must not be generating much. I know of no areas around here that are flooding. They only follow the rules when it suits them. They have dropped Bull Shoals to several feet below the power pool and if there were any rhyme or reason to their madness they would start a little more generation on Norfork. It is right at power pool which is 553.75. The surface water temperature is about 62 degrees and falling slowly. It will not fall much in the next three days do to the very warm temperatures then another cold front is coming through. The wind has shifted to the southwest and it is warming up already. About the only thing that is consistent is the wind and I am getting tired of it. It is not so bad this morning but is to change soon.You have to get out at sunrise to get in a few hours before it starts again. It usually diminishes in the evening but not always. I talked to some striper trollers yesterday and they caught nothing. When you see a report that the fish are in a feeding frenzy and jumping in the boat be careful. Some of these guys are fishing for two or three days to just get a picture. They also miss more fish than most people catch. Experts do not miss many fish. If you are having trouble catching fish we will help you when you get here. We do not claim to be experts but several of us have been successfully catching Norfork Lake fish for quite a few years and are not just trying to get you to come down here even if the fishing is tough. Sometimes it is and sometimes it is not. Watch this blog for what is actually happening. Several of us are out there almost every single day when possible and I have some very good fishermen reporting to me daily. If you do not see a report is is usually because no fish are being caught. Fishing was not the best yesterday but several fish were caught. Working the bank with worms and soft plastics is starting to catch some fish and spooning continues to be the best method both on brush and in open water. The walleye that I am catching are full of crawdads and creek minnows so they are coming in shallow sometimes. Drop the spoon touching bottom beside brush piles with a 3/8th ounce spoon for them and catfish and a 1/4 ounce spoon for crappie, Kentucky bass, and bluegill right in the brush near where the top of the brush is the biggest and comes the closest to the surface. Fish are roaming so try different places until you find them. They do not go that far. Use light clear line especially this time of year as the water is getting very clear and the fish are line shy. I use a very small swivel on the spoon to keep it from twisting the line, otherwise I use no hardware. I purchased new cabinets and counter tops for cabins 5-8 yesterday and new air conditioner/heaters for them also and am broke again but we still are not raising the price and continue our policy of continued improvement for you.We do not want to charge our friends too much. It was busy here yesterday and will be again Thanksgiving week. I need some cloudy weather with light winds and you will see some big crappie. Some white bass and hybrids should start showing up with all of the trollers out there. It is time.Look at the mouths of the creeks just off the main lake. The moon is getting big.