Norfork Lake Scuba Report for July 7,2020 by Patten Traver owner of Scuba Doo Dive Shop.

My Old Buddy Steve asked me to put a spearfishing report together for him as he has been unable to go. So Here goes... The lake level is 575.70 and has dropped about 2-inches in the last 24-hours and the surface temperature is in the mid 80's. Norfork lake is producing consistently nice walleye. Walleye are hanging out around 23-feet just below the thermocline. They are primarily on secondary points which have a long taper making a ridge under water. It is really hit or miss with the points. If you go down and don't see any activity for the first ten minutes you have to pull up anchor and try the next point down the lake.The high water has made for a phenomenal shad and bream spawn. All of the harvested walleye coming out with completely full bellies. The main kicker in Norfork right now is the visibility. The water level is so high that the waves from the boating activities are hitting the shore right at the clay line. Consequently, high boat traffic leads to poor visibility later in the day. Over night the visibility clears up and early morning is the best time to go. Weekend and afternoons are the worst. If you are diving on the weekends the best places to go are the transitional bluff walls where the long point intersects with a bluff face. The fish are hanging out in the transition, and the visibility is generally better. The lake is falling from 2-3 inches a day. It will not take long before the shore line gets down to the usual rock layer. This will greatly improve the visibility and really start to pack the fish into tighter clusters. There is so much cover now in the water that the fish are really scattered. Once the water starts dropping the fish will concentrate on cover or large boulders just below the thermocline and will be much easier to pattern. Crappie fishing has been very hit and miss for the same reason as the walleye. Too much shallow brush for them to cruise in so they do not have the need to concentrate on any particular brush pile. Cat fishing has been very good just challenging. They are shallow in the buck brush and getting to them can sometimes be problematic if a lot of briars are present. Make sure you have two knives when you dive this time of year. I always have a knife strapped to my gauge and another strapped to my leg. Entanglement can be a problem with extra brush in the water. It is warm water diving and most will be confortable in a 5-mil wetsuit. Lots of divers are wearing warm water hoods and using them later in the dive if they get chilly. The beenie type that have the neck strap work well. They can stay in the BC pocket until you get cold and then get put on over your mask with a velcro neck strap. If you have any questions you can reach us at Scuba Doo Dive Shop, just down the rosd from Steve at Blackburns. 1-870-492-5300 and ask for Patten. Everyone at the shop spearfishes and will be able to help you. Most divers are using a 40-cm. pneumatic gun with a barbed paralyzer tip. Cressi Sub has a new black line competition gun that has just come out this year and has been very popular. It is a step up from the SL-Star line and has a more robust trigger assembly and is more comfortable to handle. If you are shooting a pneumatic make sure you have the gun oiled properly, the extra silt in the water from the bad visibility seems to make the lube oil work harder. Changing the oil out annually for fresh oil is a great idea to increase barrel life. That is about it. It is definitely worth a trip to the lake if you haven't made it up this year. The best place to social distance is in 25-ft. of water. Dive safe.