Clermont Chain of Lakes
The Clermont Chain of Lakes are located in the town of Clermont, Florida mostly with a couple of the lakes in the town of Groveland as well. This chain of lakes totals more than 8,600 acres with 11 lakes and a couple of boat ramps to make it easy to get access to the water. Most of the water will be tea-colored with the exception of Lake Minneola, which is relatively clear compared to most of the lakes in the Central Florida area.
Largemouth bass are the big attraction here for most anglers with good numbers of 2 to 4 pound bass and fish in the 5 to 7 pound range being fairly common. Bass up to and above 10 pounds are available here as well. Bluegill and other sunfish are here as well to go along with catfish and crappie.
Harris Chain of Lakes
Set amongst the quaint towns of Eustis, Mount Dora, Leesburg, and Tavares is the Harris Chain of Lakes. This chain is a part of the Oklawaha River Basin and includes Lake Eustis (7,806 acres), Lake Harris (15,087 acres), Little Lake Harris (3,359 acres), Lake Dora (4,475 acres), Lake Beauclair (1,140 acres), Lake Griffin (9,327 acres), Lake Yale (4,013 acres) and Lake Carlton (376 acres).
Saltwater Fishing near Lake County, FL
Head West – If you head west, you can go fish the Homosassa and Crystal, River. Both of these destinations have some incredible inshore fishing and you can get away from the crowds in both destinations. If you are up for driving a couple of hours, you can head over to the Tampa Bay area. Here, there are so many great inshore fishing options to go along with awesome deep sea fishing and some of the best fishing without a boat in all of Florida.
Head East – If you head east, you can go fish the Space Coast. You can fish inshore or offshore here, although, the inshore fishing in Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River gets most of the attention, especially among anglers that like to fish freshwater for bass. When fishing the inshore waters here, you will most likely be fishing the shallow grass flats for redfish and sea trout, which is very similar to fishing the shallows for bass. New Smyrna Beach is also a great destination. It is very close to Daytona Beach and you have some great inshore, offshore and shore fishing options there.
