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

The lake level is 564.24 and has dropped 3-1/2 inches in the last 24-hours with one generator running continuously and spillway gates open an equavalent of 1.4 more. The White River at Newport is 23.86 feet and dropping. All of the area lakes are now dropping and no rain is in the forecast until next Saturday. They are saying the lake is 35% full and will be back down to the top of the power pool which is 553.75 by May 2nd. That would be nice. The water is still tea colored in Blackburns area but clears as you go south of Robinson Island. Water color is not an issue for fishing. The surface water temperature was 58 on the main lake last evening and overall the lake is in good condition. Fishing is not the best but a few crappie, black bass and white bass are being caught. The wind keeps switching from north to south and the fish are scattered out. If the cold fronts would quit coming through it would help. There are a few bass coming up early and late but are mostly small. It won't be long until the top-water bite for largemouth and temperate bass will begin in earnest and April 15th  is the usual date. It will get better and better until early June and is not much dependant on water level but surface water temperature. It is about time to set out some flathead lines with live shiners or bluegill. Most of the brush and small trees that were good for limb lines a few years past are mostly dead due to being under water too long and short throw lines are now the best. More catfish are now on shad and trollers caught a lot more last year with the much less number of of the big stripers competing for the shad. We have not had a shad kill for a couple of years and they have good numbers and should provide food for everything. There has also not been a big striper kill in the late summer for a couple of years so they should be growing but the increased fishing pressure and people killing small fish is rapidly increasing but some will get through and will start showing up but in much lower numbers than in the past. People fish for them deep and act like they are surprised when they die when brought up, especially in hot weather. Venting or fizzing will let them go down but they die anyway later and does not work only in very few situations.  Go along the bank this time of year and catch all of the male crappie staging for spawn will also greatly reduce their numbers if that is what you want to do. I do not.