Snorkeling at Silver Glen Springs

I went snorkeling at Silver Glen Springs this week. Silver Glen is a spring on the west side of Lake George. I had been there a couple of times in the past. However seeing this video recently made by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FFWC) had me wanting to go again.

My goal, in addition to having a good time snorkeling was to find the spring in the video. I knew from the size of the spring that it wasn't the main spring but a smaller one in the area. I also thought it was probably restricted because of the fish -- the wouldn't want swimmers there. But I wanted to find it and get what pictures I could.

Every year the FFWC stocks striped bass into the St. John's River. They're naturally there, but need long stretches of flowing water to reproduce, something not found frequently in Florida so the FFWC supplements the numbers. However striped bass can't stand water temperatures over 75°F for long. In the summertime they spend lots of time in the spring. Here's a drawing of what I was after.

Striped Bass

The spring is packed with visitors in the summertime. Coming to cool off is as popular with the locals as with tourists. But I still needed to go while Lake George was very warm. I picked Monday, August 29 for my trip. My reasoning was that Monday was probably the smallest crowd and by late August most of the kids are back in school. However it's still warm enough to see the striped bass.

I arrived at Silver Glen Springs to an empty parking lot and paid my admission of $5.50 for the day. I asked the lady in the store what was interesting to see. She showed a map of the spring and pointed out a "restricted area" on the back side of the spring. When I asked about the restricted area she just said it was an "environmentally sensitive area". That, Sherlock, is what we call a clue.

Snook in main spring

So I went snorkeling in the main spring and there was lots to see there. Several small groups of snook were in the main boil. The actual spring at Silver Glen shows the wear and tear of the end-of-summer season. Lots of vegetation around the edge of the boil had been trampled and the employees talked only how glad they were that the kids were back in school.

Around the edges of the spring is where I usually find most of the wildlife. I saw a banded watersnake around the edge but wasn't fast enough to take his picture. But there were lots of bluegills posing in front of some underwater palms. Kinda shouts "Florida" doesn't it?

Bluegills in front of underwater palm

There were also several good size largemouth bass around. It was interesting that I never saw them either in the spring boil itself nor out in the vegetation. They seemed to patrol the area on the edge of the spring. Every one that I saw was in this transition zone.

Largemouth Bass

I also saw several turtles. This guy was hiding in the grass. When I got too close he left his hiding place and ran to another. I didn't make him move again.

By that time I had worked my way around to the restricted area. It was Monday morning and I was all alone in the spring but I didn't go in the restricted area even though I wanted to. I stayed back behind the line. But the striped bass were indeed where I thought they would be. There's a smaller spring in that area that they leave for the striped bass.

With my little underwater camera I wasn't able to get a good picture. But you can see them in this one as dots in the distance a little bit.

Target Located

Another nice part of Silver Glen Springs is the walk out to the sand boils. The boardwalk is short, maybe 1/4 mile round trip. These are a very small springs that come up through the sand. Interesting to look at and very close.

Sand boil

I did see several other interesting things. I saw several skinks on the trees. I also saw a squirrel that looked like it had a recent fight, possibly with a hawk as its back was bloodied badly. And there was a 4 ft gator hiding in the shrubbery near the spring.

Overall it was a very nice trip to Silver Glen Springs. Silver Glen Springs is a very interesting spring with too many visitors in the summer. Not only is the spring full but the run tends to fill with boats. But it still makes for a wonderful visit. Just be sure to go in the off season.