Lake Carlton Fl

Lake Carlton FlLake Carlton is located in Lake County near Mount Dora in the state of Florida. Carlton lake is conveniently located in Central Florida, less than an hour from the Orlando theme parks.

Carlton Lake is a 378-acre scenic lake that offers many recreational amenities such as canoeing, kayaking, sailing, and fishing. Lake Carlton is part of the famous Harris Chain of Lakes, known worldwide for its incredible bass fishing, wildlife, and beauty.

Many popular fish species call Lake Carton home, including largemouth bass, crappie, bream/bluegill, and redear sunfish.

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Lake Carlton Fishing

North Central Florida lake

Lake Carlton has it all, a great real estate location, a variety of homes, activities, and a mecca for bass fishing. You can choose from fishing wood to Kissimmee grass to even dragging a Carolina rig on an offshore structure.

Central Florida is known for its top-notch bass fishing. In addition, this is one of the best areas in the world for your shot at a trophy largemouth. While in this area, famous fisheries are all around you, but that doesn’t mean anglers should forget the small ones.

Lake Carlton is part of the famous Harris Chain, which has a strong reputation for having large bass in good numbers. Many tournaments have broken records in this fishery.

Lake Carlton is the perfect quaint fishing spot for an angler to have their shot at an unpressured fish.

Tips

Largemouth bass tend to hang around the deeper lily pads and grass beds in Lake Carton. Spinnerbaits, worms, and crankbaits will all work well here. Overall, casting near cover with various baits is almost always a good strategy when bass fishing a new area, but at Lake Carlton, flipping and pitching near shallow water areas is highly effective.

Minnows, leeches, and nightcrawlers are undoubtedly the best live baits to use at Lake Carlton for largemouths.

Rigs

Many types of rigs will work on Lake Carlton, so it’s always best to choose the favorite that works best for you. Some of the best largemouth bass rigs are the Texas rig, the standup jighead, the drop shot rig, wacky rig, and the Carolina rig, which will all work here in most cases.

Fishing Trips

Anyone interested in fishing Lake Carlton should consult with local guides and other resources before heading out to fish. There are over 655,789 acres of lakes and natural waterways in Lake County, Florida, ranging in size from 15,000 acres to just under one acre. For a complete list, visit our lakes list, which includes all lakes in the area of more than 100 acres.

Top Lake Carlton Fishing Guides

To see a complete list of great Harris Chain of lakes fishing guides, please click here!

The Harris Chain

The Harris Chain of Lakes consists of 8 primary lakes- Apopka, Griffin, Harris, Eustis, Dora, Yale, Beauclair, and Lake Carlton. All the lakes together total about 75,000 acres. The FWC Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has completed numerous management and restoration activities in this area to improve aquatic wildlife populations, habitat, and water quality with fish stockings, attractors, and habitat plantings.

Anglers travel here from around the world to have their shot at a trophy bass, which are in good numbers in the chain. The FWC also stocked sunshine bass in the chain to add diversity to your catches. The fishing is good here throughout the year, but the spring spawning season is really when every lake in the chain will heat up and produce the big ones you hear about.

Homosassa Fishing Charters

Top Lake Carlton Fish Species

East lake Carlton fl map

Largemouth Bass

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Black Crappie

Bluegill on Crescent lake fl

Bluegill

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Chain Pickerel

Lake Carlton Fishing Reports

Camping

The area near Lake Carlton, Florida, is the perfect place to camp. It’s surrounded by famous fishing lakes, scenic springs, and lush forests to give the whole natural outdoor experience. Some campgrounds located near Lake Carlton, Florida, are Alexander Springs Recreation Area, Bee’s RV Resort, Black Bass Fishing Resort and RV Park, and Blue Parrot RV Resort.

Surrounding Area

The lake is surrounded by Garden homes, Carriage homes, Villas, or Single Family homes accessible to the lake. In addition, there are several gated real estate developments situated with access to the lake. Surrounded by the north side of Lake Carlton is Lake Beauclair, and the east side is Trimble Park Road and Lake Carlton Drive.

On the west side of Lake Carlton is Churchill Smith Lane. There are tons of lakes and rivers for your Waterview needs near Lake Carlton as well as local restaurants and shops.

There’s excellent access from Orlando, Florida, with quick access to The other parts of the Harris Chain of Lakes or I-75 and Ft. Myers International Airport.

Lake Carlton Map