Anglers will be looking shallow for prespawn bass at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Norfork Lake presented by SEVIIN April 3-5.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
March 26, 2025
Norfork set to host Bassmaster Open for prespawn showdown
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. — Tournament consistency generally requires deep thinking; while such analytic intensity will certainly help those competing in the 2025 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Norfork Lake presented by SEVIIN, success likely will follow the shallow-minded.
Competition days will be April 3-5 with daily takeoffs from Buzzard Roost Boat Dock at 6:45 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day at the same location at 2:45 p.m.
With Norfork’s water level at 553.6 feet (a little more than a foot and a half above full pool), flooded brush will offer appealing bass habitat. Beyond that, Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro Joey Cifuentes III said he’s not looking for much of the event to involve deep water.
“We catch them shallow on our (Ozark) lakes year-round, but with the water temperature rising (57 degrees a week before the event), there will be some pulling up and swimming around,” Cifuentes said. “They won’t necessarily be spawning yet, but they’ll be up there getting some sun and warming their eggs.
“Some guys will catch them in full-blown winter/early spring mode. But even that’s not very deep — probably 10 feet or less.”
Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1941 to 1944, this impoundment of the Norfork River (a White River tributary) covers 22,000 surface acres. As Cifuentes describes, tournament waters offer a diversity of bass-friendly habitat.
“Norfork is a typical highland reservoir with steep banks, rock, timber and buckbrush all up and down the bank,” he said. “You also have some stumps, docks and bridge structure.”
Consistent with most Ozark lakes, Norfork’s lower (deeper) end holds the clearest water, while the upper reaches find more staining. That’s primarily due to the inflowing creeks, which flush out rainwater runoff — a key point to consider, should tournament week receive any significant precipitation.
“Water clarity will be a major factor, so most guys will find them eating better in that stained water,” Cifuentes said. “If it’s slicked-off calm and no wind, you can get bit in the clear water early, but up in the day it becomes very hard to get bit.
“The fish tend to be bigger fish on the lower end, so maybe you try to get a couple big bites early and then move up the lake to fish in that stained water. I think you’ll see a lot of guys with one big fish and then four good ones.”
Cifuentes said he’s expecting mostly a prespawn tournament, but a solid stretch of warm weather preceding the event could trigger a round of early spawning. Local weather will see a brief cooldown a couple of days before competition begins, but the warmth will return by game time.
According to Cifuentes, various reaction baits like mid-depth crankbaits, squarebills, swimbaits, glidebaits, spinnerbaits and jerkbaits will likely do most of the heavy lifting. That being said, flipping, pitching and dropping techniques will also come into play.
“If they happen to pull up shallow, you could see a guy catch them really good on a jig,” Cifuentes said. “Off the bank, the jighead minnow is going to be a good player. Offshore, that’s probably gonna be the dominant pattern, but you could see some fish pulling up on staging places like bluff ends, where a football jig could come into play.”
Cifuentes said precise positioning will be based on daily conditions, as anglers will carefully monitor water temperature and wind speed/direction. That being said, he believes the lower end has the greatest potential to produce the lion’s share of the winning weight.
“You’re gonna have a guy fish in that clear water early, but then he can go up in the stained water in that first creek up from the dam,” Cifuentes said. “A guy can win with a combination of places in the lower third. There’s a lot of diversity in that lower end.
“Norfork’s gonna fish small, so you’re gonna have a lot of guys fishing around other guys.”
Species diversity will further ensure a dynamic event. As Cifuentes notes, 3-pound spotted bass swim these waters, but most of the tournament weights will comprise a mix of smallmouth and largemouth.
“There are big fish on this lake; I’ve seen guys weigh 24- to 25-pound bags,” he said. “It’s kind of a freak thing, so you’re not gonna see anyone do that two days in a row. If a guy has a 20-plus-pound bag and then backs it up with two days of (at least) 15, he’ll have a good shot at winning.”
Cifuentes said he expects two daily bags of 17 pounds to make the Top 10 cut, while a three-day average of 18 or more will win the trophy.
Bassmaster LIVE will stream the final day’s action on Bassmaster.com and the Roku Sports Channel will air coverage on Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. ET and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Stay up-to-date on all tournament coverage at Bassmaster.com/how-to-watch/.
The City of Mountain Home, Arkansas is hosting the event.
