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Avoiding the Boat Ramp Blues
March 5,
2004
Last week I wrote about a problem
that is very familiar to bass fishermen in Lake County, fishing
pressure from bass tournaments on the Harris Chain. Most of the
time, you can drive by the boat ramp on Lake Eustis and tell by the
number of trailers in the parking lot whether you will catch fish or
not. If the lot is full, you can guarantee the fishing will be
tough.
Fortunately, Lake County anglers
have many choices when it comes to productive bass water. From my
home in Eustis it is only a 45 minute drive to Rodman Reservoir, 30
minutes to the St. Johns River at Sanford and about an hour to Big
Lake Toho on the Kissimmee Chain. These famous waters all have
great bass fishing but if you really want to get away from the
crowds, try some of our smaller local lakes. This week I will share
with you three of my favorites.
Lake Yale is technically on the
Harris Chain but was landlocked long ago when the Lake Yale Canal
was closed connecting it to Lake Griffin. Lake Yale is a large lake
and has some of the best bass fishing in the county. Rarely does
the boat ramp parking lot have over 10 trailers a time. The best
thing about Lake Yale is the wonderful offshore fishing. The lake
has a hard sand bottom, is deeper than most and is full of humps and
ridges that hold good bass that are not pounded by shoreline
fisherman.
Two other great backup lakes are
the Holly Chain west of Umatilla and Lake Dorr north of Altoona in
the Ocala National forest. The Holly Chain is a small chain of
lakes with clear water and an unusual bottom contour where the
deepest water is closest to the shoreline. Top water action is
dependable and the lakes are generally deserted except on weekends.
These lakes also offer great action for fly rod enthusiasts.
In my opinion, Lake Dorr is the
most beautiful lake in Florida. The dark stained water mirrors the
tall pine forest that surrounds the lake and on a calm day you can
easily imagine you are fishing in the remote Canadian wilderness.
This lake is interesting in that it has two shorelines, the visible
shoreline and a second underwater shoreline farther out that drops
off into relatively deep water. The best way to fish this lake is
with a Carolina rig. Most of the fish in this lake are near the
drop off on the deeper shoreline. I have caught fish over 7 pounds
in this lake but most are typical of Ocala Forest bass, small,
numerous and feisty.
Our area has hundreds of other
small lakes and ponds with excellent bass fishing. The next time
you are faced with hard fishing, give them a try. You won’t be
disappointed.
See you
next week,
Captain Phil Kelley
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