Lake Palestine resort launch is extended

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September 3, 2011

Jerry Miller, Guest columnist Jacksonville Daily Progress The Jacksonville Daily Progress Sat Sep 03, 2011, 06:30 PM CDT

JACKSONVILLE — Lake Palestine Resort on Lake Palestine is one of the premier places on Lake Palestine to launch your boat. I talked to the owner, Larry Paxton, this week to see how they were handling the low water situation.

Paxton said, “Over 90% of the tournaments on Lake Palestine launch here. We keep adding on to our ramp. Last week we added another eight feet. There are no drop offs, you get a nice, smooth entry. We are working on the ramp constantly to insure a safe launch.”

Lake Palestine Resort hosts a lot of major tournaments. Last week Bud Lite launched here. Other popular tournaments like Fishers of Men and Crappie Anglers of Texas host tournaments here at various times.

In my article on August 21, 2011, I reported about the low lake levels and the problems that incurred. I had received some erroneous information about Lake Palestine Resort, and to clear the record we are letting everyone know that Lake Palestine Resort launch is not only open, but they are going out of their way to ensure that their launch is one of the best.

I wish that were the case on Lake Jacksonville. Last Wednesday I launched my boat at the popular concession stand launch. I could get in and out of the launch, but I was having trouble. The launch area is about two feet deep. I could run my big motor with it tilted way up, but I still kept bumping the bottom. As I rounded the corner to go out into the lake, I had to lower my trolling motor down to get out.

The City of Jacksonville did a good job on widening out a portion of the launch area, and they dug out a deep hole in this area, which was an improvement. Unfortunately, more needs to be done. I called the City Manager”s office and spoke to Will Cole, who informed me of their on-going efforts to improve the concession launch site and the New Hope ramp.

Cole said, “We don”t have the equipment to do the dredging. We did widen out a portion to allow barges to come and go. We tried to get on the other side of the launch to dig it out from both sides, but we couldn”t do that. We did use a track hole to dig out the gas pump area.”

They also tried to work on the New Hope ramp, but they were having trouble getting their heavy equipment into the launch area because of the steep angle at the ramp.

Cole also informed that the launch at the dam area is still accessible. The Kiwanis Club maintains the park at the dam.

At this point the best thing to do is keep praying for rain.

The good news is that the bass are still schooling on Lake Jacksonville. One of the best schooling areas was straight out from the launch. Between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. I caught several bass up to four pounds schooling. They hit a variety of lures, including a Yellow Magic and a green grub bait. My largest bass was caught on a Nichols” 3/8 oz. Blue Shad Willow Leaf spinner bait, including a four-pound bass. I didn”t catch but five on this lure, but they were the largest bass in the school.

Jerry Miller can be contacted at: gonefishing2@suddenlink.net

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