LAKE NORFORK STRIPER CLUB NEWSLETTER www.norforkstripers.org JULY 2015 JULY LNSC TOURNAMENT RESULTS The Top 3 (July, 2015) LNSC Tournament Winners Great tournament, fantastic weather and 20 smiling faces turned out in spite of the high water. 8 fish were weighed in. All I can say about that is Good Eating. I m already looking forward to the August Tournament 1st Place Larry Devors - 7 lb. 15 oz. Striper caught on a Binks Spoom 2nd Place Don Kerns - 6 lb. 8 oz. Striper caught on a Binks Spoon 3rd Place Penny West - 6 lb. 4 oz. Striper caught on a Pearl Blue Skinny Dipper See complete tournament results on page 5 and other photos on page 2
Board Of Directors PRESIDENT John Gerard - 321-1031 stripermail@gmail.com VICE PRESIDENT TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR Jim Wencker - 492-4141 gp_wen@suddenlink.net SECRETARY Penny West - 847-4088 beatricew@centurytel.net SERGEANT AT ARMS Jim Shaffer - 491-5693 prairiechicken@centurytel.net NEWSLETTER EDITOR/ TREASURER Vern Berry - 421-0720 ozarkloafer@yahoo.com MESSAGE BOARD MASTER Ron Teter - lnsc.striper. msg.board@gmail.com WATER QUALITY REP. Bob North - 491-5498 northpoles@centurytel.net 2015 LNSC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE AUGUST 13 THURSDAY - 5:30 am until 9:30 am at Quarry Park Launch Ramp. Artificial baits ONLY allowable for this tournament. Weigh-in time is 9:45 10:00 am. SEPTEMBER 18 and 19 Friday and Saturday 6: am Friday until 9:30 am Saturday at Panther Bay Launch Ramp. Live bait or Artificial baits are both allowable for this tournament. Entry fee is $10 per contestant for the tournament and an additional $5 each for the OPTIONAL biggest fish weighed for the tournament. The single biggest fish pays 100% of all big fish entry fees. Each contestant in any boat that has a big fish contestant must also pay the big fish entry fee. Three weigh-ins at Panther Bay Launch Ramp: FRIDAY 10:00 to 10:30 am AND 6:00 to 6:15 pm, then on SATURDAY 9:30 to 10:00 am. Contestants may weigh up to 3 fish at any weigh-in time but no more that a total of three fish for the tournament. When the three fish limit is reached, there will be no culling allowed. Total weight for up to three fish weighed will determine the winners. OCTOBER 10-SATURDAY - 6am to11:00am. Weigh-in at Panther Bay Launch Ramp with weigh-in at 10:45 11:00 am. Live bait or Artificial baits are both allowable for this tournament TOURNAMENT REMINDERS 1. Register Early 2. Pay with Cash 3. Always watch the message board for any changes in weigh-in times or location change. 4. Know the tournament rules (see the web site). 5. Watch the rather and think safety first 6. Have fun and enjoy the day on our great Lake Norfork 4th Place Jim Schill - 5 lb. 12 oz. Striper 5th Place Ron Teter - 5 lb. 3 oz. Striper JULY MEETING GUEST SPEAKER 6th Place Robert Turk - 4 lb 15 oz. Striper We are happy to have Mr. Kelly Hurst from the U.S. Army Corps or Engineers here to speak to us this coming Monday. Kelly will share information regarding our twin lakes. He will have information, handouts and have a question and answer session. Don t miss this
PRESIDENT S MESSAGE This has been one of the wettest Julys I can remember for this area and the lake has risen to 15+ feet above the normal pool level. Most of the docks at the public launches not accessible from the shore. The water line is well into the parking lots. So, take care when launching your boat. As a courtesy to those launching a boat or for those loading their boat onto a trailer please reduce your speed to a no wake when you are near a launch site. Also, because of high water there is some debris floating around in the lake. So, be careful especially in the dark. From the reports I have received, stripers are on the move towards the dam area. Oxygen levels and water temperature remains good in the 35-100 from the Diamond Bay area all the way to the Dam area. Hybrids can handle the warmer water better than Stripers. You may find some good hybrid fishing in the channels. A report from Lou Gabric of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort I am finding stripers and hybrids in 2 different types of area. The first area is part way back in major creeks with a deep channel swing. I am finding fish in 50-80 feet of water suspended from about 40 feet to the bottom. Live bait is working very well, but artificial baits are also working. Vertical jigging and throwing a swim bait with a heavy (up to 1/2 ounce) jig head are my artificial baits of choice. All three of these methods of fishing will work throughout the summer. The second type of area where I am finding stripers is along deep bluff lines where the old river channel swings in close to the bluff line. The above methods of fishing will also work in this type of area. I have found fish suspended along the bluff lines from 40-80 down in 80 to 120 feet of water. If you find fish 60-80 feet down jigging a spoon will work the best. Fishing on Norfork Lake continues to be very strong. I (Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort) have been mainly fishing in the mornings, but did manage to get out one night since my last report. Over the last week the striped bass bite has been very good in the morning and the bite is still happening after dark. This morning was one of my most active days; I landed 9 striped bass and 4 whites. The bite started as soon as I got to my fishing location at 5:45 AM. I was trolling a 5 inch swim bait with a 1/4 ounce jig head. This swim bait was recommended to me by one of my fishing friends. Thanks Ron, it does work really well. Most of my fish were found on shallow flats in about 20 feet of water. My bait is not going very deep and the fish are coming up for it. Top water action started about a week ago and I got really excited, but several cool fronts rolled though the area and has all but shut down the top water action. I do expect it to take off again once we start getting some consistently warmer days. With this being said, always be ready with a top water bait because the top water eruptions could happen at any time. Report.continued on following page 4
Report continued from page 3 Look for stripers off of points part way back into creeks and if there is a flat area close by; check it out for feeding fish. Once the sun comes up the fish seem to move out into deeper water. I am finding scattered fish along deep bluff lines later in the morning. We all thank Lou for his report update and report. We will look forward to his monthly reports. Best of luck to you all this summer. John Gerard CAPTAIN RON S FISHING REPORT To those who say age is only a number, I say baloney. No one yet has ever stopped the :me clock. Some have slowed it down but none have stopped it. I would like to think I am s:ll in good shape for my age but I had a recent medical emergency. Fortunately for me I was at my daughter s and she took me to immediate medical care. My wife also has her problems and the drive to LiCle Rock is geeng harder each :me so, much as I really hate to do so and while I am s:ll in good enough shape to make the move, we are moving to family and closer medical care. The good news is that we are moving close to a lake that has supposedly good hybrid fishing. Also, because we will be close to family, I hope to compete in next year s tournaments. It is a five hour drive one way. For the last eleven years I have wricen fishing reports, now it will be up to you to keep me up- to- date for when I come down to fish. I will con:nue as a member and will look forward to your reports. I will miss the monthly mee:ngs but hopefully will see you at the weigh- ins that I can make. I have to agree with my wife, I had a great run here at Lake Norfork. This is truly a great place with great people. See you on the water, Ron Note: My new garage wasn t long enough for my boat but Mountain Home Steel did a very professional job of installing a swing away tongue kit. Wish I had done that eleven years ago, it frees up space.
A SAD FAREWELL. editorial I am sure I am not the only one very sad to have to bid farewell to Ron Teter. Ron is moving to be closer to family and healthcare. Ron has been not only an outstanding LNSC member, but a friend and mentor to many of us over the past 11 years. Ron has written a great column for our monthly newsletter every month and regardless of personal circumstances never once was his copy late. Ron also was always available to fill-in or be scheduled to the key speaker at our monthly meetings where he would give details of his techniques and skills, so others could learn. His goal was and still is to help club members learn to be better striper fishermen and grow to enjoy this sport more and more. No club member has been more helpful in continuous message board updates than Ron. He constantly provides up-to-date information on where the fish are; what baits are working best for him; and the techniques he is using to catch more stripers. Ron, you will be greatly missed. Thank you for all you have done for our club. We wish you the best and look forward to seeing you here for future tournaments when possible.
LAKE NORFORK STRIPER CLUB 115 Excaliber Pl. Mountain Home, AR 72653 JULY 2015 NEWSLETTER www.norforkstripers.org Next Meeting MONDAY- JULY 27-7pm Eastside Baptist Church ***** SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS *****