For early spring, look a few hours south for some of the best fishing you’ll find all year. Norfork Lake in Arkansas is located just over Missouri’s southern border and 8 hours from Chicago, Norfork is home to some of the best striper and crappie fishing in the country. Located within the Ozark Mountains of North Central Arkansas, its high bluffs and secluded, forested hills make it a natural, hidden treasure. The lake encompasses 22,000 acres and 550 miles of uncommercialized shoreline.

But don’t just think of it for crappies and huge stripers. Lake Norfork is also popular for bass, walleyes, catfish and quality bluegills.

With a maximum depth of around 175 feet, the lake is known for clean, clear blue water and is rated one of the ten clearest lakes in North America. As part of the White River system of flood control lakes, Norfork Lake is an impoundment of the North Fork River. The city of Norfork was originally home to the timber industry, which supplied wooden ties for railroads. The Norfork Dam was completed in 1944, forming the reservoir, which was built for both flood control and hydroelectricity. Today, the area is mostly known for its recreational activities of boating and fishing, clean water, sandy beaches, and family-friendly atmosphere.

Fishing is a large recreational pastime on the lake. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission began introducing striped and hybrid bass into the lake in the late 1970s. Due to the stocking of other species like bass, walleyes, crappies and red-eared sunfish, the lake has become an extremely popular fishing destination.

Norfork Lake is an outstanding fishery with mild winters that never let the water freeze and a 365-day open season. Their tourism slogan “Bring a Big Net” applies to the fishery.

Due to the clean, clear water, spoons, stickbaits and more natural-looking lures are recommended along with live-looking, forage-imitating plastics and live bait. With extreme water clarity and the ability to see deep into the water column, lower-test, thinner and translucent lines are preferred. If you can see into the water almost 20 feet down, you’d better believe that the fish can see you more easily as well.

As mentioned, stripers are the main attraction in Norfork. “If you’re on a trophy hunt with mounting potential, or you just want something to brag about, be here sometime between now and the end of May. “The two weeks before and after April’s full moon tend to be prime time,” says Greg Weinmann, owner of Lake Norfork’s Hand Cove Resort. There are numerous resorts to choose from on the lake, and many resort owners are eager to share their fishing knowledge and experience. Most offer lakefront cabins and/or cottages with complete amenities and panoramic views. Some include RV sites, sandy beaches, mini golf, swimming pools, swim decks, boat and kayak rentals, fish cleaning stations, tackle shops and relaxing atmospheres.

According to the Norfork website, the trophy stripers typically weigh in between 8 and 14 pounds. Twenty- and 30-pounders are relatively common, and every year, anglers net fish topping the 40-pound mark. The abundance of gizzard and threadfin shad, the striper’s favorite forage, allows them to grow to enormous size and weights. Use medium and medium-heavy rods for these fighters.

Norfork crappies are also fishing favorites. Crappies must be at least 10 inches to be considered a keeper. And with the right conditions of water temps and cloud cover, fish in the 12- to 14-inch category are more the norm. The daily crappie limit on Norfork is 15 fish, and finding the right brush piles in the correct water depths is the name of the game. Once you find the magic depth, and then the right color that the fish are tuned in to on any given day, you can move from brush pile to brush pile and easily get your limit. And again, many of the resort owners will mark up lake maps with key brush locations to help ensure a successful day on the water.

So, when open water starts tugging at your heartstrings this spring, check out Norfork Lake and head a little south for some early-season, open-water fun. For more information on a Norfork Lake fishing adventure, visit NorforkLakeFun.com.

You’ll find plenty of helpful spring fishing tips in the April and May issues of MidWest Outdoors. Subscribe on our website.