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West
of Orlando in the town of Clermont lies eleven
beautiful lakes known as the Clermont Chain that
total 8,692 acres.
This
11-lake chain is located in Lake County’s
rolling hills near the town of Clermont. There
are two public boat ramps and one is on Lake
Minneola (fee charged) north of SR 50 in
Clermont. The other is a FWC ramp just north of
Lake Louisa on Hull Road. Water levels are
normal most of the time, so access should not be
a problem at either ramp. For those preferring
to fish from shore, there is a fishing pier on
Lake Minneola. Most of the chain has tea-colored
water, but Lake Minneola (1,888 acres) is
relatively clear. All lakes on the Clermont
Chain are Fish Management Areas, so a fishing
license is required per state law.
Bluegill and
redear sunfish (shellcracker) are biting on
worms and crickets around shoreline vegetation
and cypress trees. Both species will continue to
spawn in these areas throughout the summer
during the new and full moon phases, and fishing
success peaks during these periods. Channel
catfish action is good on live, dead or prepared
baits in deep offshore areas of lakes Minneola,
Minnehaha, and Louisa. Largemouth bass can be
caught casting or trolling crankbaits in
offshore areas or on plastic worms early and
late in the day along grassline edges.
The lakes contain a primary
cover of Kissimmee grass, eel grass, lily pads,
reeds and bulrushes. This is home to some of the
biggest largemouth bass in Florida with 10
pounders being caught during the spawn on a
regular basis. Speckled perch (crappie), blue
gills, and
redear sunfish
(shellcracker) also
abound in the chain.
The lakes
include in the Clermont Chain:
-
Lake Minneola
(1,888 acres)
-
Lake Minnehaha
(2,298 acres)
-
Lake Winona
(64 acres)
-
Lake Louisa
(3,634 acres)
-
Lake Palatlakaha
(102 acres)
-
Lake Hiawatha
(49 acres)
-
Wilson Lake
(32 acres)
-
Lake Susan
(81 acres)
-
Lake Crescent (122
acres)
-
Cook Lake
(21 acres)
-
Cherry Lake
(401 acres)
Further north and
technically located in the town of Groveland,
Lake Lucy (346 acres) and Lake Emma (173
acres) are also part of this chain.
These tea-colored, spring fed lakes are
surrounded by rolling hills, on which local
residents find make a great perch for viewing
Florida's stunning sunsets.
The Clermont lake
chain is one of Florida's most recreational
polished lake systems.
Fishers will find channel catfish and speckled
perch to be quite plentiful. Sunken trees
and dredge holes in the lakes make great fishing
attractors, providing what some claim to be "some
of the best largemouth bass fishing in the
world." These attractors are marked on most
lakes by buoys, which should help to foster a
pleasant experience even for the novice
fisherman.
For the
water-sports enthusiast, the Clermont lakes are
the place to be. Throughout the water skiing
community, Clermont is known as the ""Wakeboarding
capital of the world".
The Wakeboarding Camp, a year-round school
devoted entirely to the instruction of
wakeboarding, is located on Lake Minneola
View Larger Map
More great links to information on this
location,
http://www.rodmanreservoir.com/
http://myfwc.com/fishing/forecast/ner.html#rodman
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