Florida's 10 Largest Lakes

Best Bass Fishing in Florida

At around 15,000 acres (23.5 miles², 61 km²) Lake Harris comes in at number 9 of Florida's Top 10 Lakes (graded by size).  Despite being 9th on the list I recently described Lake Harris (above) as being 'sublime.'  Trying to determine which lake would be the best for Bass Fishing would be subjective, but I would argue Lake Harris would be high on that list.  Instead it is pure science to figure the 10 largest lakes and then see what bass fishing aficionados say about those lakes.  So that's what we've done.

At nearly 66,000 square miles, Florida is the 22nd largest state in the union. However, only about 53,000 square miles of that space is land and even less is dry land.  Over one-fifth of it is water. Florida holds 3 million acres of lakes—7,700 of them greater than 10 acres in size—and 12,000 miles of rivers and streams. Combined, the 10 largest Florida lakes would cover an area of nearly 685,000 acres (1070 miles², 2772² km). And the largest of them is the fourth largest natural lake—second largest freshwater lake—in the United States.

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#1 Big Water
Lake Okeechobee

Coming in at number one on our list, near the southern tip of Florida lies its largest lake, Lake Okeechobee. The name Okeechobee is a combination of the Hitachi words oki—water—and chubi—big. And “Big Water” certainly describes this massive body that covers 448,000 acres—or about 700 miles², 1813 km²—of surface area. The body of water is what's left of an ancient, shallow sea known as the Pimlico Sea, and it's still relatively shallow, averaging about 9 feet deep (3 m).

Florida Paleogeography.  The "Lake Worth" Period.  150-100,000 years ago.  The Pimlico Sea has inlets to the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.  Cape Sable is forming.  Offshore keys are also forming.

#2  Lake Welaka

Lake George

The second largest lake in Florida, Lake George, is by no means small, but at 46,000 acres (72 miles², 186 km²) it is about 1/10th the size of Lake Okeechobee. This 12-mile long by 6-mile wide central Florida lake is on the border of Ocala National Forest and is the largest lake on the St. Johns River.  The name Lake Welaka is taken from "Welaka" (meaning "chain of lakes"), the name for the St. Johns River in the language of the Timucua, who inhabited Florida prior to European aggression.

Lake George is one of our favorites because it is mostly inaccessible, mostly bordering the Ocala National Forest and the Lake George Conservation Area, and remains quietly unchanged since the first Europeans visited in 1596.  Also it is pretty close to home, located mostly in northwestern Volusia County (near Daytona and Ormond Beaches).  Lake George used to be number three, but number two was bumped down the list in recent years because of massive agricultural development that rendered a third of (currently #5) the lake dry land.

# 3 Behind the Dam

Lake Seminole

The third largest of Florida’s lakes is the artificial Lake Seminole, a reservoir also known as the Jim Woodruff Reservoir near the junctures of the Florida, Georgia and Alabama state lines.  The lake is split down the middle as the state line separating Florida and Georgia runs north-south through its midsection where the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers used to flow south to meet the Apalachicola River.  This 37,500-acre (58 miles², 151.7 km²) body of water was created by the closure of the Jim Woodruff Dam on the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. The lake, northwest of Tallahassee, is largely used for hydroelectric power production and recreation. 

#4  Lake Kissimmee

Fourth on the list is Lake Kissimmee in central Florida just below Walt Disney World. This 35,000-acre (55 miles², 141 km²) recreational lake connects the seventh largest lake, Lake Tohopekaliga, to the north and Lake Okeechobee to the south through a series of rivers and canals. 

A portion of the C-38 canal, finished in 1971, is has now been backfilled to restore the Kissimmee River floodplain and Lake Kissimmee to a more natural state.  Now if it would only rain.

C-38 = Environmental Devastation

The ditching and canalization of the Kissimmee in the late 1960s in response to 1947's active hurricane season (flooding) led to devastating environmental impacts across hundreds of thousands of acres of marshlands that subsequently dried and died, and helped lead to the polluting of Lake Okeechobee with nitrogen and phosphorous.  The river's length was reduced by half as it was straightened by digging a canal (the C-38) due south, destroying everything to the east and west of the lakes and river.  Since 1992 restoration efforts have been pursued to attempt to return the Kissimmee to its natural state.

This is a really flattering image of Lake Apopka.  In real-life the waters are a pea green color and the once-world-renowed bass fishing lake is virtually a dead zone

#5 Dead Zone

Lake Apopka

At over 30,000 acres (47 miles², 121 km²), Lake Apopka near Orlando in central Florida is currently the fifth largest Florida lake. Also fed by the St. Johns River, this once great bass fishing lake is considered one of the most polluted large lakes in the United States.

Agricultural development on the lake's north side led to the ditching and drying of the lakes purifying marshes.  Runoff of fertilizers caused the lake to live in a state of perpetual algae blooms which killed off the fish, other plant life, etc.  Restoration efforts are underway but the largely treeless north shore "swamps" of Lake Apopka have a long, long way to go to return to what they once were. 

Meanwhile massive development in gnawing away at the eastern and northern shore of Lake Apopka as the Western Beltway (superhighway) of Orlando is constructed into once pristine bear preserve and agricultural lands.  With the beltway comes more housing developments, more strip malls, more crap, more fertilizer, more pollution.  

It doesn't look good for Lake Apopka at this point.  Perhaps there will be a terrifically rainy summer some time soon that will help to flush the lake of its toxins and slow the construction on its shores. . . but as the past 7 rainy seasons have shown Floridians.  Climate change is real and it is affecting our rainfall (reducing rainfall) and contributing to the ongoing severe drought in Florida.

#6   Our People Died There

Lake Isokpoga

Only slightly smaller, at nearly 28,000 acres (43.7 miles², 113.3 km²), Lake Isokpoga—a Seminole word meaning “our people died there”—is the sixth largest lake. The lake is very shallow with an average depth of about 4 feet (a little over 1 m deep), making it dangerous for all but shallow draft boats. 

Fishing Capital of the World

Bass Fishing Lakes

Rounding out the top 10 are Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee, Crescent Lake in the northwest, Lake Harris near Leesburg, Orange Lake in north central Florida, and East Lake Tohopekaliga (a close #11), south of Orlando. These large lakes all feature large mouth bass. The shear abundance of these and other bass species in Florida’s lakes partially account for the boast that Florida is the fishing capital of the world. The World Fishing Network, in fact, includes seven of these large lakes—Lake George, Lake Harris, Crescent Lake, Lake Tohopekaliga, Lake Okeechobee, Lake Kissimmee and, despite its shallow depth, Lake Istokpoga—on its top 10 list of bass fishing lakes.

#7 We Will Gather Together Here

Lake Tohopekaliga

Seventh on the list is Lake Tohopekaliga. Located at the headwaters of the Everglades, this lake is renowned for its bass fishing and natural beauty.  Lake Toho's native name means "we will gather together here."  It is the primary inflow of Shingle Creek, which rises in Orlando.  It covers 22,700 acres (35.5 miles², 91.9 km²) and spans 42 miles in circumference.   Known for its bass fishing and bird watching this lake south of Kissimmee.

#8 Crescent Lake

15,960 acres (25 miles², 64.6 km²)

Located in Putnam and Flagler counties in northeast central Florida the lake is about 13 miles long and 2 miles wide.  It connects to the St. Johns River by way of Dunn's Creek.  The tidy little town of Crescent Lake is on the west side of the lake and remains largely unspoiled by development.

 Lake Harris is one of my favorite stops when traversing the state.  It remains quaint and largely unspoiled despite the development that is occurring all around the lake.  Part of its luck in escaping the fates of some of Florida's other large lakes is that it is deep and on higher terrain, fed by multiple springs and lakes and the communities directly on its shores are old and built out.

#9 Lake Harris

13,788 acres (21.5 miles², 56 km²)

Lake Harris primarily receives inflow, at its southwestern shore from the Palatlakaha River which originates from the Clermont Chain of lakes to the south. Other inflowing rivers include Helena Run, and outflow from many small springs in Yalaha. 

Lake Harris' depth is much greater than Lake Okeechobee to the south with many deeper holes and ledges. The lake is surrounded by sandhills and cypress trees. This is the part of Florida known as the 'Central Florida Ridge'. This region of Florida has the highest elevations in Central Florida, reaching 312' above sea level. Compared to the rest of Florida, which is relatively flat, it is quite hilly.

Two views of Orange Lake.  The lake is plagued by floating "islands" of plants.  One such island seen in the image below.  Also the shores are choked with plants.  This is all due to reduced rainfall and increased pollution with fertilizers and septic tank runoff.

#10 Orange Lake

At 12,550 acres (19.6 miles², 50.8 km²) Orange Lake is the largest lake in the North Central Region of Florida.  The lake averages only 5.5 feet deep with a maximum depth of 12 feet.  In a normal year water levels fluctuate an average of 2 feet.  A dam (weir) on Highway 301 controls outflows from the lake.

+1 East Lake Tohopekaliga

The lake covers an area of 11,968 acres (18.7 miles², 43.4 km²), and for now this lovely lake north of St. Cloud comes it at #11 on our list.  East Lake Toho is the primary inflow of Boggy Creek, which rises in the Orlando International Airport property at 70 feet (21 m) above sea level.  East Lake Toho and Lake Toho are linked by a 3 mile long canal called the "St. Cloud Canal."  Why you ask?  Guess. . . flood control for more development.  Still, this is one of the loveliest most unspoiled spots we've visited.  A quiet, clean, and uncrowded marina at the south end of the lake in St. Cloud is amazing.  1960s-era neighborhoods around the south side of the lake are tidy and stable providing for a mostly litter free and unspoiled lakefront.  On the east side at Narcoossee is another surprisingly clean, uncrowded, and well-policed boat ramp and park at the site of the former Runnymede Hotel.  On the north side of the lake is the Lake Nona Medical City.  A posh development of shops and hospitals that is ultra-modern and also surprisingly clean if not uncrowded.

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