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

Mike with some nice ones.Image title

The lake level is 552.61 and is the same as yesterday with about 3-hours of generation. The White River at Newport is 7+ feet and the surface water temperature was 47 degrees yesterday. It was 45 degrees ambient yesterday morning when we went out and it got colder by the minute. The surface water was 47.3 degrees. The bass and crappie were biting so it did not feel as bad. First it rained, then it iced for just a little bit, then it sleeted and then it started to snow. All in the span of just 7AM-3:PM when it hit 27 degrees. It is snowing now and it looks like we missed almost all of the ice. We have about 4-inches of snow now and it is coming down pretty good and it looks like the forecast of 5-8 will be about right and maybe more towards the 8. I dumped 1.4 inches of rain from my gauge last evening. It looks like the ice is headed for the Boot Heel and Paducah area and miss us. We can take some snow but ice paralyzes this area. There have been no power outages here so far and that is my biggest concern. I have a home generator but none at the resort. We are to get the coldest days of the season and not get above freezing for a couple of days but we can get through that. It could be much worse. I will just do inside projects and will open up more cabins in March when the weather warms. March can  have variable weather with several cold fronts and big temperature swings. We keep several cabins open all year but will be in full swing by March 15th. Many people get cabin fever by then. Two things are working the best now for bass. One is spooning 25-ft. brush piles near the bottom or also using a jig or small grub vertical jigging the same brush. One of my favorites is a 2-inch white twister tail with the tail turned up and a small crappie minnow hooked through the top of the head on a 1/16th ounce white with red eye jig head. The next is a 2-inch Bobby Garland blue ice baby shad.  Crappie are with the bass and big ones too. Use a slow presentation and just dabble the lure but touch bottom Do not drag the lure and keep it straight up and down if possible. The other is putting a 3-inch green stingray grub on a 3/16th or 1/4 ounce jig head and position your boat in deep water on a steep bank part way back in the creek and cast to the shore. Keep your lure dropping and just off the bottom until back to the boat. The 1/4 ounce drops faster and has a little more action but gets hung up more. The stingray is not made for action. Bink taught me this technique 25-years ago and we both still use it today. Be ready to lose a few but also be ready to catch some big bass. After fishing this lake for so long we know where the winter bass banks are located and it is just a matter of time before they get there. Diamond Bay has some good ones but there are also some very good ones right here near Blackburns. I seldom go very far but seem to catch quite a few fish. I do not like paying these high gas prices and my 200-HP Mercury likes it pretty well. I have all of my electric gear plugged in and ready to go and hopefully will not need it for very long. There are several trollers dragging stuff around in front of the docks at Mallard point. They must be catching something but I did not talk to them. Others are around the bridges in front of Panther Bay Marina. I am marking several stripers on the way to my fishing spots but do not fish for them. Let them grow. Come on down to Blackburns. We will not charge you too much, have all individual cabins with no duplexes, all have covered porches and your first boat stall is free. There are no price increases for 2022 and we will help you catch fish and have new brush piles. Compare prices. Our low price is only excelled by our quality.