LAKE GEORGE
Farther north, but having an equally good reputation for bream fishing, is Lake George. A hefty 46,000 acres, the lake is due east of Ocala. The mighty St. Johns River empties into the lake on its southern end and exits on the north end, to continue its journey to the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fisheries biologist Sam McKinney knows Lake George about as well as anyone. He said the lake has an abundance of shellcrackers and bluegills.

"Some bream fishermen like to fish the lake; others like to fish the spring-fed waters that enter the lake," McKinney observed.

Those "runs" are clear streams of water spilling out of springs that lie mostly to the west of the lake in the Ocala National Forest. These include Juniper Springs, Salt Springs and Silver Glen Spring runs.

Juniper Springs Run has the most clouded water of the three. On the other hand, both Salt Springs and Silver Glen Spring runs carry clear flows, with sand and shell bottoms. McKinney said shellcrackers in particular love that kind of bottom. The only problem is both waterways, but Silver Glen Spring even more than Salt Springs, are heavily used by kayakers, float-tubers and swimmers on weekends.

"You can forget fishing then," he said.

McKinney said shellcrackers seem to spawn earlier and later on Lake George than on some other area lakes. Shellcrackers begin spawning in March and bed again each month into the summer. Bluegills typically begin their spawning a month or so later.

Some anglers have different twists, but according to the biologist, most are what he calls "spat" fishermen. They use cane or fiberglass poles, many of them the so-called "bream buster" variety.

The two most common baits fishermen use are grass shrimp and wigglers.

"Everything from bream to bass eats grass shrimp. It's probably the best bait you can use," McKinney said and then added that grass shrimp are found throughout most North Florida lakes.

The crustaceans are small -- usually only 1 to 2 inches in size -- and fragile, but worth having in the boat.

Lake George is shallow. McKinney said the deepest spots he knows of are about 15 to 16 feet deep.

While many fishermen have favorite places they hit year after year, he said an overlooked area that has lots of bluegills and shellcrackers is a shallow ridge off the south and west shorelines of the lake.

"It comes up to 4 to 5 feet and is a good area to fish," McKinney said.

LAKE TALQUIN
One of the best lakes for panfish in the Florida Panhandle is Lake Talquin. The reservoir covers 8,850 acres and is south of Quincy in Gadsden County. Back in the 1960s, the Ochlockonee River near SR 20 was dammed, forming the impoundment. Streams that flow into the lake include Ocklawaha Creek, Rocky Comfort Creek and Little River.

Lake Talquin has some shallower areas, but the impoundment is deeper than your average Sunshine State lake. It is 20 to 30 feet deep in places, and because of its depth it does not have as much vegetation as some lakes. Still, it is a good destination for catching bluegills.

During the spring and summer when I was a young boy, my father quite often took my brother and me to Lake Talquin. It sounds dated and perhaps a bit dangerous now, but we fished out of Daddy's 12-foot cypress-sided bateau. We almost always launched from Hopkins' Landing on the lower end of the lake, fishing north for a mile or so. Like most fishermen of the day, we used 12- to 14-foot cane poles with crickets and wigglers as bait.