Fall fishing fun at Norfork Lake

Popular spot in the spotlight this week

By Jim Harris

Arkansas Wildlife Editor

Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters says this past week they saw a major cool down of Norfork Lake. This week, anglers on Norfork should see a push up the creeks by the stripers to find schooling bait and cold water.

“I fished both Bennett's Bayou and above the Missouri line,” said Reynolds.

“Both places are holding fish, but only Missouri has the most consistent bite. I usually start off above Point 10 in 11 feet of water at first light and wait until the school comes sometime between 6:3-7:30 a.m.. This week when it did we hooked three and landed them all at the same time. By 7:30 I moved out to deeper water and fished that until 9 a.m. Then I moved down below Point 10 and fished the deeper channel waters. The trollers are having great suc-

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From page A9

cess in the shallow water trolling small crankbaits. I saw two boats catch their limit of stripers in less than two hours. I'm still using big gizzard shad up to 8 inches. It seems the bigger baits are working the best, but the trollers are using small baits but trolling fast.”

“Bennett's Bayou has a similar pattern. I start off at the cow pasture point in 12 feet of water and fish the area until the sun comes up. I then move off into deeper waters and fished the channel edge. The stripers are not very active there, but as the water cools down it will be a major spot to fish. I have seen a few trollers and some fish are being caught around 10 a.m., but not many yet. The evenings are still the best time to fish the bayou right now.”

The walleye are being caught on crankbaits trolled on long flats above Cranfield Marina. Crappie is a strong bite right now on 30 feet brushpiles, with small spoons, jigs and minnows being your best baits. Detailed maps of the new brushpiles are available at various locations around the lake.

Lou Gabric at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort said Norfork Lake fishing in October can be lots of fun, but also can be inconsistent.

“There are many changes going on in the lake, which affect the movement of the predator fish and bait,” he said.

“The water temperature starts to cool and the main thing is that the lake turns over. There has been a really good bite for bass. Largemouth and spotted bass can be found all over the lake. If you like topwater fishing, throw your favorite topwater bait onto points where you can see sunken brush still out in the water. The fish are inside of it and will come up and slam the bait. Spinnerbait, lipless crankbaits, regular diving crankbaits and jigs are all working in different areas. The bass are also on the bluffs, especially on points of large coves or small cuts in the bluff wall. Smallmouth bass are starting to show up as well, even in the topwater”