Fishing Cherry Lake in Lake County, Florida

• Overview

  Lake County, Florida, is where Cherry Lake sits. The country here is warm bottomland. It measures some 468 acres, and wind has room to build across it. About 2.9 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Size puts it in the front rank of our Lake County list. The closest town, Groveland, is 3.4 miles distant. The big place round here is Orlando, 27 miles distant. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Cherry Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Fish reported in the area, according to open records, include largemouth bass, bluegill and redear sunfish. Records show what people reported, so treat the list as a guide to what lives in the area. Anyone new to Cherry Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 82°F and January about 59°F. Warm water year-round keeps fish moving through every month. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to be out. The hot months push the fishing to dawn and dusk. At Cherry Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Cook Lake sits 0.7 miles off and takes the overflow. Signs at Cherry Lake carry more weight than any list.