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Lake George is the
second-largest freshwater lake (only Lake Okeechobee is bigger) in the
Sunshine State and the largest along the trace of the St. Johns River.
Covering some 46,000 acres (14 miles by 6 miles), George lies approximately
halfway between the headwaters of the St. Johns River (the Melbourne/Palm
Bay area) and the river's closure with the mighty Atlantic Ocean at
Jacksonville.
As with most Florida lakes and rivers, Lake George has a number of very
specific 'personal' traits and characteristics which give it a
distinctiveness all its own.
First, it has possibly the most consistent bottom structure possible.
Once you have moved across the shallow areas bordering the shorelines and
out past the sloping drop-off, from six into 10 feet of water, the bottom
topography of 'Big George' has hardly any variation in its entire length and
width. We cruised a large portion of the lake with an Eagle graph recorder
and found virtually no variations, save the normal drop-line that follows
the shoreline.
Second, George has a significant salt content. In fact, the saline
level is high enough that numerous salt-water fish and plant species thrive
in its waters. There is a large blue crab fishery that forms a significant
part of the local economy. The St. Johns River waters, entering the lake at
the South end, contain a good amount of salt from the run-off waters and
springs, which enter between Lake Harney and George. In addition, three
feeder creeks (Juniper, Silver Glen Spring Run, and Salt Springs) on the
West side of George add a salty water influx. Salt Springs Creek, as the
name would imply, is particularly salty. The waters gradually dilute as the
river flows to the North, particularly when the clean, fresh waters of the
Oklawaha River enter.
The sources of the salt are the massive, underground marine deposits left
from eons ago when the St. Johns basin, and the lands to the East, were
still a part of the Atlantic Ocean floor. The third trait of Lake George is
the lack of vegetation, except along the shallow shorelines. Within the
areas of open water, there is virtually no natural cover or growth. And,
finally, the fourth item is the active Armed Forces bombing range, which
lies along the East-central portion of the lake. This is an approximate
nine-mile by two mile rectangle used for the training and certification of
pilots and bombardiers. There are some features of the range area, which are
of fishing and boating significance, and we will cover these in our usual
tour of the lake.
For our tour, let's start mid-way along the eastern shore, at Pine Island
camp grounds and fish camp. John and Mary Solmonson, who manage the
facility, gave us a general orientation and 'map-talk', plus some pointers
on seasonally fishing the lake.
Exiting from the small, short canal that leads from the ramp to the lake, we
turn North, up along the eastern shoreline. As we start this turn, we note
the large, wooden pilings far out into the foggy mist that shrouds the main
lake. These we file away for later reference.
The area in near the shoreline is very shallow and generally bordered by
reeds and some standing grasses. To the outside of the reeds, we find
significant amounts of eelgrass, mixed with some peppergrass. The eelgrass
usually thins out and disappears when the depth gets to 4-5 feet. From that
point, out to the gentle, rolling main drop-off, there appears to be no
vegetation to speak of. It is generally 100-400 yards from the natural
shoreline, out across this flat, to the main drop-off into the main lake.
Once past the drop (into 10-12 feet) and in the deep water, we found no
vegetation, either. This shoreline and vegetation pattern seems to hold
constant all around the main lake body.
You will note old pilings scattered along the shoreline flats, with some
extending out to the edge of the deep water. Those, which reach close to the
deeper area, have potential for bass. We found a plastic worm to work well.
Obviously, a Springtime lure would also be a spinner bait. These pilings
also indicate that for each one we can see, there are possibly 10 underwater
hidden from view. A 'word to the wise' says to confine your high-speed
motoring to the deep-water areas and only idle in the flats. On the
Northeast shoreline, marked on the map accompanying this article, is an area
of special interest to bass anglers. The Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish
Commission (FG&FWFC) has designated this stretch of water as off-limits to
fishing during the prime bass spawning season. It is well marked with large
poles and brightly-colored signs. Approximately mid-way of the restricted
area are the remains of an old target ship. Lying on its side in the shallow
waters, this relic of a war era gone by spends the remainder of its days
rusting away and serving as a curiosity to the visitors.
The intent of this restricted area effort is prohibit the taking of bedding
bass and insure a maximum spawn. The hatched fry are then sampled to
determine a density count in the area. The FG&FWFC biologists compare this
count to counts taken in other parts of Lake George to determine if the
taking of bedding bass has any significant effect on the results of the
spawn. So far, the answer is no, it appears to have no appreciable effect.
Apparently, two factors strongly influence this finding. First, few large,
bedding female bass are actually taken. Most are very reluctant to strike
any live bait or artificial. Second, these trophy-size bass constitute only
a small portion of the overall spawning population.
At the North end of Lake George, we find Drayton Island. The main river
channel and lake exit passes to the East of the island, with numerous
marinas and camp areas along the East shoreline. To the West of the island,
another passage exists. This one is not a main passage, but most boaters can
navigate it easily if they follow the deeper water. The area around Drayton
Island is Coquina stone, a form of compressed small stones, sand and shells.
This provides some very hard and clean bottom structure and has some nice
drop-offs and deep bank areas.
The West side of Drayton Island, in-between Kinsley and Rocky Points, was
found to have a very sharp drop from 6 into approximately 12 feet of water.
A medium-depth crank plug (we used a Bagley DB II and a Rebel Deep Wee-R, as
examples) produced good, chunky largemouths all along the West drop-line.
The drop on the East side was not as steep and a plastic worm seemed to work
better there. As a suggestion, this area would appear to be best on windy
days, when strong southerly or northerly winds would push induced water
currents through the channel. We suspect that the bass gather to feed on
this artificial current flow.
As we start down the West shore, we first come to Salt Cove. This is fed by
the influx of the already-mentioned Salt Springs Creek. This section of Lake
George is usually the first to experience a spawn of both bass and speckled
perch (crappie). This is primarily because the entering spring waters run a
constant 72 degrees (F) year-round. Also, the northern portion of a lake
always gets more of the warming late-Winter/early-Spring sun and the
northerly winds of Spring have less effect in this area. At the lower corner
of Salt Cove is a small feature known as Lisk Point. There is a good amount
of eelgrass in this area and it produces some fine bass angling.
Just below Lisk Point, there is a shallow flat that extends far out into the
main body of the lake. There are some pilings out on the edge of the deep
water, which nearly always seem to hold bass. If the bass are not in against
the pilings, move out on the drop and try a very deep crank plug (such as a
DB III or Magnum Hellbender) and a plastic worm. There are some remains of
an old pier or some structure that collapsed and slid off into the deep
water, right at the base of the drop-off. These remains have rotted away
significantly, but can still hang up a lure. Hunt for them and you should
also find a bass or two. In the Summer, crappie will also hang out on this
deep cover.
Approximately two-thirds of the way down the West shoreline, we come to
Silver Glen Spring Run. About two miles further South, we find Juniper
Point, just above the entrance of Juniper Creek. From Silver Glen Spring Run
to Juniper Point is another of those FG&FWFC off-limits areas to fishing
during the bass spawning season. Again, it will be well marked and easily
detectable.
All three creeks on this side of the lake are very good bass fishing,
especially when heavy rains have made the creeks run strongly. Try the areas
around the mouth first and then move into the creeks for a distance. Since
all three run at the constant 72 degrees (F), the cover and flats near their
mouths are good for spawning bass. Striped bass also make good spawning runs
into the creeks (although they do not actually reproduce in these waters),
particularly the more-saline Salt Creek. We were told that this Striper
migration usually occurs in the Spring.
From the mouth area of Juniper Creek to Volusia Bar, there is a line of
submerged pilings. Some are visible, especially when the water levels are
low. Bass and crappie are regular inhabitants. We suggest you motor
carefully in this area and place a few marker buoys to reference the piling
line.
Juniper Cove is rated as very good for drift fishing for crappie. A the
extreme South end of Lake George is the entrance of the St. Johns River.
Through years of river flow, a very large and shallow slit area, called
Volusia Bar, built up across this entrance. In order to retain navigational
freedom, a channel is maintained. A portion of this man-made entrance point
is lined with rock and some timbers and is locally referred to as the 'Cow
Pen'. Many different species of fish gather at this moving-water location to
feed. Largemouth and striped bass are the two most commonly found. Watch for
surface feeding action in and around the Cow Pen and use spoons, top-water
lures and Shad-A-Lac (vibrating, free-running crank plug) style lures. Also,
be sure to toss crank plugs and plastic worms near the obstructions present.
In the Southeast corner of the lake is Jones Cove. Surface schooling bass
use this location well during the May/June and September/October periods.
Some of the lake's larger crappie are taken drifting live minnows and small
jigs a few hundred yards out from the shoreline.
Nine-mile Point is the next feature and lies just up the lower East
shoreline. On the bank, you will note a bombing range control tower and a
microwave communications tower. Directly in front of this complex, a line of
old pilings runs from the shore out to the drop into deep water. At the end
of these pilings, some 250 yards into the lake, there are the remains of a
deteriorated dock. While the squared-off set of dock pilings are mostly
still visible, the platform materials have long since rotted and sunk. Some
of the old boards and timbers are in amongst the remaining pilings, while
other slid off into the deeper zones. On our visit to George, we took a good
string of 2-3 pond bass off the dock remains and the outer 100 yards of
pilings. A Texas-rig plastic worm was used in the more snag-prone dock area,
while a Carolina-rig worked extremely well around the individual pilings.
Nine-mile Point is bordered by an outer growth ring of eelgrass and an inner
ring of reeds and small pads. Some peppergrass is mixed in. This entire
point is rated excellent bass fishing by all the local anglers we talked to.
We were told to work the eel grass using spinner baits (in the Spring and
Fall) and plastic worms (year-round.) A slowly fished, weedless Johnson
Spoon, with a plastic trailer, was recommended for hot weather. Willow Cove
was indicated as a good spawning location for bass and crappie. Willow Point
has a large stand of isolated reeds out in the open water. This was the only
place in Lake George that we noted this condition, although there may be
others. The water in the reeds is 4-6 feet deep and there is no grass or
other hindering growth. A spinner bait or worm can be cast far into the
reeds and retrieved back with no far of hanging up. My partner and I found a
huge school of small bass (1-2 pounds) dispersed throughout this reed stand.
John Solmonson, at the Pine Island Marina indicated that the East shoreline
was his overall choice for the better fishing and that it helped the angler
avoid the common easterly winds from the coast. For certain, he indicated,
this shore was the best for shellcrackers and big, bull bluegills in the
June-August timeframe. The West shore, particularly near the creek entrances
seem best during the late-Winter/early-Spring.
When we started the tour of Lake George, we noted a cluster of pilings out
in the lake. There are actually three of them and they are laid out in a
circular pattern and serve as 'targets' for the bombing range. The center
cluster is the largest and is significant because it has a ship sunk in the
middle of the piling circle. Local anglers, who know the ship is there, find
it a fine place to take crappie year-round.
In the months of May through July, the lake's striped bass population often
provided great surface action in the bombing range area, particularly near
the pilings. Watch for them and you can get the kinks out of your line in a
hurry.
There are numerous fish camps and facilities around Lake George,
particularly along the upper, Northeast section. Another is located at the
South end, at Volusia Bar, and, of course, the Pine Island facility is on
the East side. Additionally, the town of Crescent City is only 15 minutes
East of Lake George and has ample facilities for overnight stays.
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