Bank and Pier Freshwater Fishing in the Leon area

[BayCountyNative]

Hello,

As the username suggests, I am from the Panama City area, having moved to Tallahassee to attend graduate school last August. With the spring semester recently completed, and the summer workload much lighter, I have had a good bit of time lately to begin exploring the fishing in Leon County. Right now I have been taking what I consider a "tour" of the locations listed on the FWCC's Tallahassee, Leon Country Freshwater Fishing Sites. While I am exploring the entire list (and beginning to look into Apalachicola National Forest sites and other sites not listed), my focus is on sites that either have piers or provide for relatively accessible bank fishing, as I do not currently own a boat.

So far I've fished a couple of the landings at Lake Talquin, the dam at Lake Munson, and threw in at a couple spots on the Ochlockonee River. I've also visited a number of other sites and crossed them off my personal feasibility list, including most of public areas around Lake Jackson, some pure boat ramps on the Ochlokonee, and Lake Hall at the gardens.

Where I have fished I haven't had a great deal of luck, though Lake Munson was probably the most fun and idyllic setting thus far. It is my understanding that you don't want to eat fish out of Lake Munson due to environmental concerns - is that still true?

My lack of success doesn't come as a great surprise. Growing up in Panama City, I focused almost entirely on saltwater fishing (usually the mundane kind - fishing for sheepshead, speck, mackerel, etc. off of jetties, piers, the Bailey Bridge, the Deerpoint Dam, etc.). I did attend college many hours away from the Gulf, so it was during that period that I got my first real taste of bass fishing, but that was mostly in stocked ponds where it was pretty easy to pull them in all day on just about any bait you wanted.

The last couple of weeks I've been trying various things, but mostly relying on Texas-rigged pumpkin chartreuse Zoom worms. I've also tried a variety of other artificial worms and grubs, as well as some floating and shallow-diving crankbaits. I have to admit that my Texas-rig needs a little work. I've been watching youtube videos but haven't quite got the hang of getting the worm to be arrow straight between eye and point of the hook the way the videos and pictures show.

In any case, I imagine a goodly number of my fishing technique questions have been answered in the past and a bit more searching through the forums will be helpful to me. My principal reason for posting here was for more of an introduction to y'all and also to ask what bank/pier spots you would recommend in Leon County, and also if venturing into the national forest to some the ponds there is worth it.

EDIT

I notice jslorenz seems to be on a similar quest - just read the Lake Carr thread, which is a fishing hole I am thinking of checking out very soon, but maybe not quite as soon as I'd planned.

[cotton]

Check out Piney Z for freshwater. It was rebuilt for the bank fisherman.

For salt, check out the launch sites on fcka.net. Most of spots kayakers launch are also very good wading sites.

For that matter, buy a yak and join the insanity. Good luck.

[CoastalPirate]

Sup BayCounty! Welcome to the forum and the input. Like Cotton said, try out Piney Z. It has many places "fingers" to fish from.

[CoastalPirate]

Also, use the kayak site Cotton referred you to. I use it all the time as a place to plan my next wading trip. If you haven't already try out Mashes Sands and Bald Point State Park. Speak with Gary Droze if you are interested in some wade fishing action. He is the big bend guru on the subject.
As far as the Apalachicola forest is concerned I have only fished Moore Lake among the numerous ponds located in that region. It is the crater sized lake to the east of Talquin off of Silver Lake Rd. It does not have a huge area to fish from and there is not a dock. But people do catch bass there! Hippies frequent that area a lot also!

[Taylor]

Carr has a dock but due to low water it's useless to fish from. X3 about the comments to look into a kayak.


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[BayCountyNative]

Thanks guys! I have seen Piney Z on the maps but it's not on the FWCC list nor have I heard anything else about it. I will be sure to check it out now. I had just assumed, given its location, that it might have in a gated community or otherwise private, given its location in a popular area of Tallahassee (as I understand it).

Hippies frequent that area a lot also!

Yeah, I have heard that some of the lakes/ponds out there have their own personalities, including groups who frequent certain lakes that would not consider outsiders who don't practice their way of life welcome. But then I also saw a thread (here or somewhere else, can't remember) where someone took a bike "tour de lakes" on a circuitous route that touched on a lot of the lakes, Moore, Dog, Trout, Lofton Pond, etc. without incident and with some gorgeous pictures of the lakes and local wildlife (they weren't fishing) that made me want to go out there. I will probably make at least some quick forays soon.

I admit I have been a bit jealous of the kayakers lately. My parents have a pretty nice canoe they go out on frequently - I could see myself fishing from that too.

[BayCountyNative]

Visited Moore Lake today, which was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. Gators bellowing all over the place, not a soul around, and walked right op on a 4+ ft. Gator laying across the road. The lake was also chock-full of plant growth and while I didn't have any snags my Texas-rig and floating crankbaits were still both bringing back big ol' pieces of seaweed (or whatever you call it in this freshwater).

Silver Lake Recreation Area is well-maintained, but didn't appear to offer any shore fishing opportunities. Same for the "Rez" FSU Reservation on Lake Bradford - looks to be more for watersports than fishing. One thing that confuses me is that my fisheries list has a "Clear Lake Wilderness Area" that I halfway think is the Silver Lake Recreation Area but the descriptions don't quite match up. Even so, the map marks the spot as being north of Moore Lake but the directions state you must turn on FR 305, which didn't quite make sense to me. I wasn't in a truck, let alone a 4x4, so I didn't want to get too deep into the bush, but at least the roads are dry right now, unlike when I took that ill-fated trip down Orchard Pond road thinking it would be a nifty shortcut between Old Bainbridge and Meridian.

A friend of mine told me he knew of a good spot to fish from shore on Cascade Lake but when I went with him he couldn't find it anymore...

I also found a nice shady spot on the Ochlockonee River near Lake Talquin on Poison House road. I wasn't sure what the regs are for fishing in Lake Talquin Management Area (plus I still haven't read up on river fishing) and didn't through in but I think I will be back.

[bman]

Lots of good dock fishing in Talquin. Nearly every ramp has one.

[micci_man]

You can fish lake Miccosukee from the damn at Reeves fish camp and the basin (back side of the damn) is producing some good fish right now (bass/bream/catfish). You can rent a boat from Ely as well if you want to. The lake is on a come back after being drained but there are fish in it,

[BayCountyNative]

Lale Mic. is high one my list. It's a long a way from my side of Tallahassee, which has been my only reason for not visiting yet. Today I stayed pretty close to home and checked out a couple Lake Jackson landings. Both were beautiful areas, though I think if I was going to try any serious bank fishing at either of them it would be at Rhoden Cove's landing, where I got a good fishy vibe, notwithstanding the incredibly low water on the lake. I got a kick at walking the lake bottom and seeing those who launched there actually PARKING down the dirt ramp in what was only recently part of the lake. I am familiar with the geology of the lake and Porter's Sinkhole, but it is still somehthing to behold.

[mbweimar]

Google Earth is your friend. It's what I use when I'm on the road for work, trying to find new places to fish...and buddy do I spend A LOT of time on the road! LOL

[BayCountyNative]

Google Earth is your friend.

Oh, for sure. I've just been using Google Maps, which I love studying anyway, and that's led me to all the fishing holes I've been to that aren't on the FWCC list I have. Been working my way up Meridian Rd. with Carr next on my list, notwithstanding what I've read here about that lake.

[captkeyser]

Can't believe I hadn't thought of this earlier.

Your best bet for large bass (large mouth, Hybrids, and Stripers) is fishing from the "cat walk" by the Jim Woodruff Dam in Chattahoochee. You also have a shot at some monster Flat Head Cats along with Blues and Channels. I used to fish it religiously and have caught many Stripers, Hybrids and Large Mouths. To top it off, the state record Striper was caught here by a guy on foot.

The fishing here can be hit or miss. Your best bet is to GO and get in with some of the locals. Watch how they fish it. It is a whole other ball game from what you are probably used to, especially if you have never fished in swift current.

Some lures to get you started:

Pencil Popper- Cotton Cordel
Buck Tail Jigs- You need at least an 1 oz. Buy a number of them as you will lose them. Sorry, ya just will. White seems to work the best.

Lastly, you will need a rod and reel that you can cast a LOOOOOOONG way. I have used Shimano Calcutta 400's in the past on a minimum length rod of 7ft.

If you put the time and plenty of patience in you will find that there is no better shore fishing around.

Hope this helps. Sorry I didn't post sooner. Check it out. http://anniemayhem.com/portfolio/jimwoodruffdam.html

Good luck!!!!

[Dixiewreckd]

Go to Silver lake. Once in the park. Walk all the way to the right of the lake. Keep walking. There are two smaller overflow areas. Not only have I caught my personal best largemouth (12 lbs) out of there (the one pond all the way to the right). But I have also tore up the stump knockers. There is also PLENTY of small bass to keep you occupied. You can walk around the lake and get to several different access points to cast from. This was years ago though. But I know the lakes/ponds still exist.