Polk Co, Fl. lakes with good ramps...

[JayW]

With the water being so low... I've had to abandon some of my fishing holes in search of somewhere with a good ramp that still has water for a fairly large boat. Anyone know of a good lake to hit up this Tuesday morning? My boat is a 20 foot flats boat and a lot of lake ramps are out of the water now. I was out at Tenoroc a few weeks back putting in at Fish Hook Lake and the trailer went off of the ramp pad and I had a heck of a time getting it back on and bent a rim in the process. Seems there was a massive drop off at the end of the ramp.

[FD.]

Saddle Creek -East Lakeland - West ramp behind playground.

Lake Gibson - N Lakeland - the canal is tight but the lake is up.

Lake Hartridge - Winterhaven - fish from the ramp to the south into that cove before you go anywhere else

Lake McCloud - Eagle Lake - East shoreline there are sunken docks left over from the hurricanes.

I have a 21 ft Stratos and have fished all of these in the past month..

[JayW]

You know... I've fished Lk Gibson from the shore many years ago, but I've never had a boat in there. Where the heck is the ramp even at? Is it a shallow lake? Can you run across it without worrying?

I've fished Saddle Creek in years past, but unfortunately, the parks reputation has kept from going back. It's been years since I've fished it and it's only 5 miles or so from my house.

Thanks for the info!

Jay

[FD.]

Lake gibson ramp is behind 5 guys burger and fries- Starbucks on Socrum Loop rd, its a county ramp with parking for about 10 rigs.  The majority of the lake is about 8' with some shallow sandbars near shore.  There is a deep hole 25' on the NW end and 12' in the eastern most cove.  This lake is very clear for florida, 4-6' visibility.  I have seen a lot of large bass in the pads near shore in 3-5' of water with no bites.   The only fish I have caught out of there in the last 2 weeks was on a shallow crank over a shell bar at sunset.  I have been told that red shad and black zoom trick worms work but that remains to be seen.

Don't worry about saddle creeks rep.   I fish there at night and all day and have been doing so for over a year with no problems.  Shiney Red shad worms, J-11 rapala in root beer, firetiger 6a crank, rattletraps in bleeding shad or silver/black have been working lately.   Fish the submerged Hydrilla points in 4-6 feet of water next to drop offs. I have caught several fish over 5 lbs out of there last year with seven fish over 2 lbs in 1 hr last spring.  As a family we have a 3.5, 4, and a 5.5 lber since xmas eve.

[JayW]

Thanks for the info! I'll let you know what happens. I plan on going fishing Tuesday. I didn't even know there was a Starbucks off of Socrum Loop? I know the road, but don't go down there too often. I'm sure I can find it if it's directly off of Socrum Loop. I use a lot of finesse rigs (Zoom finesse modified to 4" with a 1/0 hook being my favorite). I caught a 12.11# and a 10.6# Bass last spring using that set up. Both were released. My largest was a 13.1# Bass out of Ariana if you can believe that. Of course that was back in July of 1999 using a silver/blue rattle trap in 12' of water. Here's a pic of the 13.1...

[warmer]

arianna has some pigs!

[JayW]

arianna has some pigs!

Yes it does! I've caught some other large ones (6-9lb range) out of Ariana in the past. As of late... it's been kinda dead out there! Ariana is about a 1/2 mile from where I live. I've caught some big ones out of Whistler and Arietta too! In 1987 I caught a 11# and a 9# Bass back to back on the same worm out of Whistler! The pic in my avatar was taken at Lk Ariana.  

[Bassn Blvd]

Hit the coast and hunt for some reds and snook.

[warmer]

As of late... it's been kinda dead out there!

as of late, its been kind of dead out everywhere.

i was over the hill on arianna today and caught 7 keepers in a couple hours.