Florida’s Lake George large mouth fishing is rated and reported as another top largemouth lake that is nationally known. This article will concentrate on lake George. We will list 12 Area’s on or around the lake that have been known to hold largemouth. You can also visit the Florida Fish and wildlife conservation commission webpage and click on Interactive maps to get more detailed information.

Lake George is one of the premier largemouth bass fishing lakes in central Florida. It is the second largest lake in the state (46,000 acres), and is located 18 miles northwest of Deland and 29 miles east of Ocala.

The following Lake George fishing reported areas have been identified by the Florida Fish and wildlife as holding good populations of largemouth bass

Area #1 Black Point with one of the deeper drop-offs in this area, offers good fishing for a variety of species throughout the year. Fish a Carolina- or Texas-rigged plastic worm down the open-water drop from 3 to 15 feet for largemouth year-round. Crankbaits will entice striped bass in the cooler months. Small wild shiners or medium domestic shiners will entice big bass strikes, and they’ll catch stripers and large catfish, too. Starting with the first full moon in April, use live worms or crickets to catch bluegill throughout summer.

Area #2 Back of Muddy Cove offers springtime largemouth bass fishing. It’s a good bedding area and excellent for sight fishing. Fish spinnerbaits and buzzbaits early and late in the day. Best fishing is often after heavy rains or when the tide has peaked and starts to fall. This holds true for most shallow water. Deeper water on the flat invites more fish.

Area #3 Between Hog Island and Saunders Bass often frequent the cut between Hog Island and Saunders Cove. Fish weedless floating worm rigs, soft plastic jerk baits or weedless spoons. The southwest corner of the island is known for its good fishing in the spring and fall.

Area #4 East side of Hog Island On the east side of Hog Island, with its harder bottom and eelgrass, is a feeding flat that yields bass year- around, especially in spawning season. Use weedless lures and work them through the grass or topwaters over the grass. Big bass will come out of the thick greenery for a wild shiner deployed along the edge of the eelgrass line or in the small coves surrounded by bulrushes.

Area #5 Georgetown Fish the many docks and pilings along the Georgetown shoreline for largemouth summer and fall. Drift a floating crankbait into the wooden structure; when it drifts close to the pier, begin your retrieve. Cast and retrieve your lures past the structure from different directions until you can establish a strike pattern. Work the broken-down piers. Piers are often interspersed with fields of little lily pads, called dollar bonnets. Fish them with soft plastic jerk baits, swimming worms, and weedless, ribbon-tailed jigs. Shiners are powerful fish-getters; the challenge is to keep the bait near the structure. Here’s a local secret: purposefully snag your line on a small stick or surface vegetation to keep the shiner in the best spot to catch a trophy. Otherwise, the shiner will swim away from danger and you’ll have to keep casting it closer to the structure.

Area #6 Lake George Point offers single and schooling bass to those throwing vibration lures and stickbaits near the weedline. Stripers also move through this area in cooler months and often will unexpectedly strike a crankbait intended for a bass. If you locate stripers, cast Carolina-rigged plastic worms and let the soft plastic undulate naturally in the bottom current. If you notice the line move, pay attention. When it tightens, strike hard. A fish is moving off with your worm. Switch to topwater chuggers if the stripers start crashing the surface. Stripers love shiners, too.

Area #7 Drayton Island The Drayton Island docks and pilings, and the boat trails that lead to them, hold bass in early spring. Weedless spoons and plastic worms with light, 1/8-ounce slip sinkers are best.

Area #8 This area adjacent to a marsh offers relatively deep water just off the grass. Bass move into the grass to spawn and out to the grassline in late spring, where a weedless plastic worm will trigger strikes. Use small, dark-colored plastic worms and, so as not to ruin its built-in action, use the smallest sinker that takes the plastic to the desired depth. Beetle Spins also produce. This is a good bedding area for bluegills April through June. Live bait anglers favor earthworms, grass shrimp, or crickets fished close to the bottom under a float.

Area #9 A sharp drop-off to 10 feet, just 30 feet from the shoreline, makes the weedline in this area especially productive for largemouth bass from late spring through late fall. A Carolina-rig will locate fish. Alternately, cast vibrating plugs or small crankbaits for best results. Fish are often suspended here.

Area #10 Work plastic worms or jigs with grubs down the sloping drop-off for bass. Try different colors until you find the one that gets the strikes. Solid blue or blue-tailed worms are effective. Grape-colored worms with green glitter work well, as do Tequila Sunrise, Red Shad, Green Pumpkin and June Bug.

Area #11 A hard, sand bottom and relatively deep water near shore make this a great spring and summer bass spot. The Carolina plastic worm rig is a lake tradition.. Fish lures that allow you to adjust your depth – spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps. This area and others like it, hold schooling bass at different times of the year.

Area #12 Kinsley Point on the south end of Drayton Island has good bass fishing year-round. Fish the visible and submerged pilings off the point for largemouth and stripers. Anglers using artificials favor crankbaits; live bait anglers score big on shiners. Plastic worms in dark colors work well in the wooden structure and along the grassline that wraps the point. The direction of the flow of water will tell you which way to cast. Start by bringing the lure back with the current but also try casting cross-current. One boat fishing technique is to drift with the current, stern first, using the electric motor to slow the drift. Cast to the sides of the boat, toward the direction of current, retrieving the lure with the current.

By: Mark Fleagle