There is one novel safety issue regarding the Suwannee. The river supports the largest population of Gulf sturgeon of any stream on the Gulf Coast. These fish can grow to 8 feet in length and weigh 200 pounds. Last summer, there were more than half a dozen incidents of boaters on the Suwannee being injured by free-jumping sturgeon! The FWCC advises Suwannee boaters to wear their life jackets and go slow.

One thing the Suwannee also has is an abundance of boat ramps. There's an assortment of state, county and private launch points scattered up and down the river. Information about state-owned ramps is available online at MyFWC.com

Over in Columbia County at Lake City are two lakes with plenty of catfish available to anglers. Watertown Lake and Montgomery Lake are both managed by the FWCC.

Of the two, Watertown Lake is the larger and deeper. It has 46 acres and measures a little over 20 feet at its deepest location. Montgomery Lake covers 36 acres and is roughly 12 feet deep at its deepest point.

Freshwater fisheries biologist Jerry Krummrich, who works out of the FWCC North-Central Regional Office in Lake City, said both lakes are stocked annually with 5,000 channel catfish that when released are about 8 inches long.

Krummrich said the FWCC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which operates the Welaka National Fish Hatchery in Putnam County, have an excellent working arrangement for producing small channel catfish for stocking across northeast Florida.

Under their agreement, the FWCC spawns the catfish at their Richloam Hatchery, then moves the fry to the Welaka Hatchery where they can grow to suitable size for stocking.

It doesn't take those fish long to find the automatic fish feeders located on the ponds.

"The fish feeders are out in the lakes. And you really need a boat," the biologist explained, "because that's where the fish are. Sometimes you see a boat, and both anglers will have their limit, and other times they might not catch any. But there's plenty of fish there."

On most Florida lakes and rivers, there is no bag limit for channel or other species of catfish. However, on most fish-management areas, there is a daily bag limit of six channel cats

Krummrich said that most anglers fish on or near the bottom, using either cane poles or rods and reels. Typical baits include earthworms, chicken livers, commercially prepared "stinkbaits" or cut shad.

"I do recommend that people start out fishing near the feeders," he emphasized.

Both lakes have concrete boat ramps and good fishing piers.

Both Watertown and Montgomery lakes are located northeast of Lake City and off U.S. Highway 90.