Help On Norris Lake

[QUOTE=livewell;298639]A Friend And I Are Coming Down To Fish Norris Thursday Night Friday Night And Saturday Night. Haven't Night Fished Norris In About 3 Years. Will Be Fishing Powell Valley Area And Up Towards Flat Hollow. Any Help On What To Use Will Be Appreciated. Should We Be Able To Catch Any Smallmouth.[/QUOTE]

Hey Livewell, I do not fish Norris, but this info is from the TWRA region report website. You may have already seen it but here it is:

NORRIS RESERVOIR: (6/21/07) -

WATER CONDITIONS:
The water elevation is 1,015.4-feet, a drop of 1-foot since last week. The lake level is predicted to drop an additional 4.8-inches over the next two days.

Water surface temperatures have been fairly stable for the past month or so. Morning surface temperatures have been about 76 degrees, the temperature rising as high as 80 to 82 degrees by late afternoon. The lake is clear in all locations.

SUMMARY:
Hot, dry weather persists. The best fishing is at the break of day, or in the hour or two before dark, and at night. Because of the drought, the lake water is clear, with the bottom visible as deep as 8 or 10 feet in some locations. Small diameter line in a low visibility coloration is recommended for daytime fishing. There has been little change in the fishing pattern in the past two or three weeks. The drawdown has resulted in baitfish schooling in mid-channel on the lower half of the lake.

STRIPED BASS have been caught in the early morning hours, mostly, in the channels around Island F, the between Points 19 and 9, and in upper Cove Creek. SMALLMOUTH BASS anglers are having the best luck at night, or at dawn along rocky banks.
LARGEMOUTH and SPOTTED BASS are hitting in the coves at dawn, with some decent topwater action early. CRAPPIE fishing is slow, limited mainly to night, under lantern or floating light, or at the break of day. WALLEYE are still slow in the daytime; better at night on snagged shad cast beyond the lantern light. After a month of limited catches coming from a variety of depths, the most common depth for locating these fish, right now, is from 20 to 25 feet.

WALLEYE
Fair at night, slow during daylight. No change in the pattern.
20 to 25 feet deep, on the bottom, for daytime trolling.
Spinner/nightcrawler rigs (Hildebrant # 3.5 or 4 blade, brass color has worked well); Jet Lure/nightcrawler rigs trolled along the bottom and near the bank or on mid-lake humps if the depth is right.

For daylight trolling, target mud lines along the steeper rocky banks where there is timber cover on windy days, or when boat traffic is high. Cast ShadRaps, Rogues or topwater plugs to flooded sycamores and other wood structure at night, or fish under lantern light with shad or alewife. Most night catches have come from those snagging shad or alewife and casting it beyond the lantern light, letting it drift down.

CRAPPIE
Slow.
5 feet in early morning, dropping deeper and tighter to cover as the day progresses.
Use medium tuffy minnows or 1-inch tube jigs or 1/32 oz. or 1/64 oz. popeye flies tightlined into the main channel brush/tree tops channel and hollows.
Lost Creek, Davis Creek, Vasper Hollow to Cove Lake Dam have been good areas. Mill Creek and Big Ridge Hollow vicinity had some nice catches even in mid-day in deep brush.

STRIPED BASS
Fair.
Surface to 20 feet.
Live shad or alewife driftlined or shallower on planer boards. Or tightline bait to depth where schooling shad and stripers are located.

Cove Creek, near Cove Norris, had good surface breaks at mid-day. Point 19 to Cunningham Cove had some surface action, but the fish appeared to be small. Lost Creek was slow.

1/2-ounce to 1-ounce white hair jigs or Slug-gos or Bass Assassins cast or trolled into shad schools where fish are feeding, or shad/alewife driftlined or tightlined at depth in mid-day. Night, early morning and the hour before sunset have been the best times.

LARGEMOUTH & SPOTTED BASS
Good at dusk and before 8:00 a.m.
Surface to 10 feet.
Near wood structure, shallow, whether on rocky main channels or in the hollows. Some nice catches have come from rocky banks where there are dropoffs into water 19 to 15 feet deep.
3/8 ounce pig 'n jigs or Texas-rigged ripple tail plastic worms cast to drop-offs and walked down to depths of 15 to 20 feet.
Jerk baits (Rapalas, and similar plugs), Bass Assassins, small plastic worms as well as topwater plugs continue to produce fish. In early mornings, cast topwater plugs or jerk baits such as Bass Assassins (and other similar lures) or Slider-type worms to brush, the base of flooded trees.
3/8-ounce pig 'n jigs with medium chunk trailers, and 2-inch Slider worms or 2-inch tube jigs worked well in cover on rockier, steeper banks. Some anglers are getting nice fish on plastic worms as large as 7 or 9 inches.

SMALLMOUTH BASS
Fair during night hours or just before daylight; slow after sunrise.
Some caught at dusk.
10 to 20 feet on main channel rocky points and banks where there is some wood structure - treetops or brush- on a fairly steep slope especially near transition zones of flat gravel banks breaking to steeper rocky banks.
Mid-lake humps and drop-offs along the humps are giving up some fish on small jigs or hair flies.
5 to 10 feet at earliest light, on small pig'n jigs, suspending jerk baits (shad color) or spinners cast to broken rock, moderately sloped banks with wood structure (downed trees, mostly). Topwater plugs improved since last week, but only at the first break of day.
3/8 ounce brown-on-brown pig'n jigs or small brown or dark green Slider/Finesse worms slowed. 3-inch Salty Tube Jigs in the darker green colors are getting some hits on Carolina rigs where there are flats leading to deeper water, or on Texas rigs on the rocky ledges on the main channels.

BLUEGILL
Good.
Fish crickets or wax worms as deep as 25 feet, on steep, broken rocky banks where there is shade.
Popping bugs at dawn along rocky banks are getting good fish until the sun gets up. For larger fish, tightline crickets, or cast them without bobber to the shady, steep, rocky banks near downed timber.
Nightcrawlers as bait are a poor second choice.

Hope this helps! Good fishing and be safe!:)