Mike Eakle with a couple of nice ones.
The lake level is 553.37 and continues to be the same day after day with nothing but minimum flow coming from the dam. Both generators are still inoperable. The White River at Newport is 1.51 feet and about ready to dry up. You cannot launch a boat there. The surface water temperature is 64-degrees and the water is pretty clear and you can see your lure down about 5-6 feet in the sunshine. The boat stall at my dock with the underwater light was full of shad when I came in at dark and there was a giant largemouth bass in with them. The biggest bass that I have caught on Norfork Lake is 7-pounds and this one is bigger. Fishing remains slow but a few nice ones are being caught everyday. Bluegill are biting fairly well and the rest are slow. Blackburns new brush piles are holding loads of crappie, bass and walleye but they are very reluctant to bite. My personal limit is five crappie and I am having trouble doing that. The ones that I am catching are very large though. A few red meat fish are being caught but I am not willing to go out and troll around in the middle of the night to catch them. I do not hate them that bad. The stripers are getting smaller and smaller and are a far cry from ten years ago when the big ones were plentiful. A 10-lb. striper is not big. The high water in the summers past killed many of them off but lately it has just been too much fishing pressure. Too many people are moving here and the same ones are catching fish day after day. About 1/2 of the ones being caught are now under the legal limit of 20-inches. If there was one big one left in the lake certain people would hunt it down and kill it and then brag. The White Bass are making a comeback but there are not nearly as many of them as there were. There are more bait fish than there are predator fish chasing them. The fish know when the water is going to cool and should start feeding before it happens. The weather tooks to be warm for the next week with the next chance of rain now being pushed off until Monday. I always say Thanksgiving is an excellent time to catch fish but it is only nine days away and I am not going to predict anything. I enjoy being out in the sunshine and catching a fish now and again. I go out in the warmest part of the day and stay out until it cools down. Some go out in the dark when it is cold and come in when it starts to warm up. I catch my share. Scuba Steve will be out there everyday and will keep you informed on what is happening on Norfork Lake. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation. A one bedroom cabin is $59/day and a two bedroom is $79/day and they come with a free stall for your boat at our dock. We also have 3&4 bedrooms available. You can stay at the best place and save $ at the same time. A lot of money. We are open all year.