Lake Norfork Striper Fishing is one of the best in Arkansas.
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Lake Norfork Striped Bass
have been stocked annually since the mid 1960's. Stripers over
40 pounds are commonly taken. Many in the 30 pound class are caught every
year. There is an abundant population of young Stripers that will keep Lake
Norfork dynamic and productive for years to come. Shad are plentiful in Lake
Norfork so Stripers average 2.5 to 3 pounds of growth per year. A 10 year
old Striper in Lake Norfork weighs about 25 pounds.
Lake
Norfork receives about 100,000 to 125,000 Striper fingerlings every year.
These fingerlings are produced at state hatcheries usually from broodstock
collected from an Arkansas Lake.
Oliver said the stocking rates during the next five years will depend on
factors such as forage production, hatchery production and harvest rates of
anglers which will be shown by the results of the creel survey now under
way. Shirley said anglers may contribute to the creel survey whenever they
catch a fish for eating or whenever quarry dies. The heads of those fish
contain ear stones that are definitive in determining the age of fish. He
said fishermen should measure and weigh the fish, freeze the heads and
deliver the heads and measurements to the AG&FC offices at 201 E. Fifth St.
in downtown Mountain Home.
Families that visit The Mountain Home area can also
enjoy the Mountain Home Family Fun Park just a short drive from Lake
Norfork.
The Arkansas
Game and Fish Commission's (AG&FC)
Striper Management Plan included a bonus of fingerling striped and
hybrid-striped bass in 2003. Norfork Lake could get a similar volume 2004
with a good hatch from the state's hatchery ponds.
AG&FC biologists Mark Oliver and Ken Shirley said AG&FC District 2 received
178,510 stripers and 46,230 hybrids. It was the best distribution since 1996
and about 75,000 more fish than first requested. Lake Norfork at seven fish
per acre was two fish per acre higher than the nearest competitor, Lake
Ouachita.
Oliver also credited a local group for helping to persuade AG&FC
commissioners to authorize a creel survey aimed at more accurately
determining the harvest and survival rates of striper and hybrid striped
bass in Norfork Lake.
Because of the local group we got a creel survey, a three-year survey, that
we have been asking for forever," said Oliver, senior fisheries biologist
for District 2.
Following last year's meeting, Ken Shirley, assistant fisheries biologist,
said District 2 raised its request for the two bass species to about 200,000
from the previous standard stocking of 125,000 stripers and 25,000 hybrids.
District 2 has asked for 200,000 stripers and 50,000 hybrids for the 2004
stockings, a bit more than the new stocking plan offers, said Shirley.
Stripers in Lake Norfork prefer water temperatures between 65 and 70° F.
During winter and spring, they can be found anywhere in the lake where there
are shad concentrations. After the thermocline forms in May, they are
gradually pushed down lake where they eventually concentrate along the dam.
The reason for this is that the oxygen below the thermocline gets used up by
biological activity and is not replaced until winter. This process begins in
the upper lake and in the upper ends of the creek arms and progresses
down lake. In order to stay in the preferred temperature that also has high
enough oxygen levels the Stripers must also move. By September most of the
Striped bass in the lake will be within five miles of the dam.
Norfork Lake Striped Bass Transmitter Study
In 1994 University of
Arkansas Graduate Student Kenda Flores began a study to correlate fish
movements with the deteriorating water quality in Norfork Lake as the summer
progresses. In Ozark lakes, fish like striped bass and walleye prefer deep
cool water in the summer. However, as summer progresses, this deep cold
water loses oxygen and fish have to move to find their preferred water
quality. Previous water quality studies have shown that the lake’s deep
water loses its oxygen in the upstream reaches of its arms first in early
summer proceeding toward the dam as summer progresses.
The first year, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Missouri Department of
Conservation personnel and University of Arkansas students surgically
implanted 20 sonic or radio transmitters of various designs in walleye and
striped bass to determine the best transmitter type for the main study. The
fish were then followed either by boat or airplane. The preliminary study
revealed that harvest was too high on walleye for that fish to be included
in the main study and that sonic tags worked best (although that required
tracking by boat only). The next spring, we implanted 20 striped bass with
sonic transmitters. University students tracked the fish all summer and
clearly found that the stripers remained in the rapidly declining area
containing both cold water and high oxygen. In fact, by mid-September, every
striped bass in Norfork Lake containing a working transmitter was located
within an area of only a couple hundred yards. This area near the dam was
also well known to the
striped bass guides.
"There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but
only a few will catch your heart.....pursue those."
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