How to work a shoreline on a huge lake?

[James and Kathy Acerra]

Howdy Y’all

Well here’s the question.

 How do you work the shoreline of a lake in Arkansas that’s huge?

(Lake Norfork 22,000 surface acres and 550 miles of shoreline)

 We’ve worked 4 main areas with 8 accessible areas for walking to.

Me being disabled doesn’t help but we struggle into theses areas.

 We’ve had great success at 4 of the 8 with some action at the other 4.

With summer moving on and the spawn ending what’s a shoreline fisherman to do?

The wife and I have had fish hit in 1’ out to 8’ deep and from the shoreline to 25’ out, here lately we’ve even added cat fishing to the routine with 4 nice cats 2 flatheads and 2 channel cats with 4 lost fish due to popped line and bad net work but were getting better on the net.

So any assistance from the group would be great.

Thanks for any tips and tricks.

Yours in service

James and Kathy

[John Sheehan]

Hi James and Kathy.Jim Gronaw and John Wilkins are worth friending and asking this question to. They both fish from shore a lot and are knowledgeable about fishing. Good Luck!

[Keith Owen]

Hey ya guys!

Ya'll are in a beautiful part of the world over there. Have you tried fishing any of the wonderful streams in that part of the state? It's been a while since I visited that neck of the woods, but it seems like several streams had good (and fairly easy) access. You can catch some nice sunfish in the deeper holes. I would try any of the areas without trout. Water will be a little too cold for big sunfish.

I would bet that a lake as big as Norfolk has a fishing dock, or three, somewhere. Most people that make use of these are after Crappie, and generally have good luck. Folks who fish them regularly and AG&F usually put structure (cedar trees, spider blocks) under the docks for habitat. I have seen anglers catch some monster Blugills and Redears off of the docks on my lake. All of ours are ADA compliant and have very good access for folks that have a little trouble getting around.

I bet if you call your AG&F local office they can give you a whole list of fishing docks.

Good Luck!

Keith

[JC]

James and Kathy

My situation is similar in some ways, although the habitats that we are fishing are probably very different.

I live near the Atlantic coast and although we have a lot of farm ponds, I have been spending a lot of time fishing tidal creeks and rivers because of access.

Perhaps you encounter similar problems as I do. Access by boat is not always possible and land access is also a challenge.

In my case I am just beginning to learn but I have been able to increase my catches quite a bit by learning a little about bass fishing and then applying those tactics on a smaller scale for sunfish.

Where I fish, the bass fishermen are obsessed with structure. After watching a professional guide pull largemouth from stump after stump, I realized that bluegill might also orient to those structures.

The guide was adamant about hitting his target accurately, and as my ability to cast accurately has improved, so have catches of sunfish. Many sunfish seem to "defend" a stump, limb or other territory.

My other mistake was my assumption that I needed to hurl the bait or lure halfway across whatever body of water I am fishing. I finally realized that I was not catching bluegill because I was overshooting them, or not fishing where they feed.

At one of my favorite spots, a pier runs parallel to the shoreline. To my surprise, the fish are on the backside, no more than 3-4 from the water's edge. I fish areas like this at dawn or dusk, and the action happens at a very fast pace, then its over as the sun gets up more.

Your favorite lake might be totally different but I hope you continue to fish and are able to pick up patterns as they emerge.

[bruce tonovitz]

I was on another site for another species of fish and mentioned my disability and was amazed at the # of offers from pontoon owners that replied whenever I wanted to fish in their area to give them a call and they would set up a fishing trip for me. I'm new here but I bet there are the same caliber of anglers on here who could do the same for you.
Good luck and God bless

[Dan Gwaltney]

Yes, I have a pontoon boat that I bought specifically because most of my friends are either old, or disabled in some way. I would be more than happy to make a new fishing friend to help me put it to use. I'm located near Tallahassee, Fla.

It well may be that you only need to put out the word that you have a need, and someone may come forward.

[Larry Wilson]

Another big fish tale from Alabama but it's all true