Location of a Bluegill Lake.

[Vic Tankersley]

Two years ago I was coming back from Panama City Florida, and was going to stop at  a place in Bonifay, Fl that had fresh Apalachicola Bay oysters. While we were there I noticed this guy had bait and tackle in his store and that the whole shop was dedicated to Bluegill fishing. Only bait was crickets and worms. My curiousity finally got the best of me and I ask the owner if there were some good lakes for Bluegill near by. He told me that the one main lake that he and many others fished was a few miles from there and that he had taken bluegill in the two pound range quite often and his brother had caught one the year before a little over the three pound mark. He told us that there was a size limit and that anything under ten inches had to be thrown back..Man I was ready to go and talked to a buddy about going back in a few weeks. I the mean time my friend went back to Panama City and stopped back to get some more info, and he said there was a reath on the door and that the owner had died. No more info on the lake somewhere south of Bonifay. If anyone has any info on this lake , I would love to know where it is. I do know that the owner of the lake charges 5 buck for fishing and five bucks for a boat.....Sad tale but true....

[Jim McCants]

Vic, what highway were you on when you stopped at the store? Did he say the lake was south of Bonifay and how far from his store? If you have Google Earth you can do some searching for the lake. I see some pretty good looking lakes, but only one with a ramp. Sun Lake looks good, but no ramp. Bonnet Pond looks good but it only has a dirt road to it and no boats are showing. I'm looking at different lakes - looking for a good ramp and some boats around. Pate Lake has a good ramp, but I see only 1 boat near the ramp.

 

Good luck finding the lake - and if you do, please let the troops know!!!

 

Jim

[Vic Tankersley]

Jim, the bait shop was on hwy 79 but the lake is susposed to be somewhere a little south and off to the east. I've been looking on google earth and Bing but like you have only found the round lakes with no boat ramp. I may have to take a weekend and go down there ad find another bait shop close by that may know where it is.. Thanks Jim

[Leo Nguyen]

Are you talking about the Castaway bar?! The bar known for its oyster's shell mountains? If that's what you're talking about, there is a lake near there that we used to fish for called Black Lake. Shallow, and full of bluegill and crappie. Sister lives in Miami, but we like to travel far far far up the coast for some good eating.

[Vic Tankersley]

Leo, how far from Bonifay is this place? Don't remember any names but I do remember that an older gentleman ran the place(lake).

[Leo Nguyen]

Just above the Hwy 90 and the I-10, east of the 79, near the Castaway, right here.

[Leo Nguyen]

I think I may have recalled a shop along the Hwy 79. I think you may have visited the site called Pilchers Bait and Tackle. I believe the site locates on 1213 South Waukesha Street in Bonifay. The lake may be Black Lake. Other than that, you could have visited the Bonnet Pond.

[Vic Tankersley]

that may be a place to start..I am going to hook up one weekend and just go hunting for it I guess. May have to fish several lakes to realy find this one..LOL