I grew up on Geneva, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to me that the water is among the finest quality in all of the country. The clarity and depth, the temperature, and bottom structure, all of these are world class. Knowing this water as intimately as I do, I shouldn’t have been quite as dumbfounded with its’ beauty last Friday afternoon. Last Friday was a glorious day, and in a Spring where glorious days have been few and far between, I took advantage of it by heading out on the water for a couple hours Friday afternoon. The rare combination of the time of year, water temperature, lack of boat traffic, sunshine, and stillness of the water led me on a magical journey unlike anything I’ve ever experienced on Geneva.
The water was glass calm when I shoved my 15′ Alumacraft into the frigid water. This isn’t a boat that you can use during the season on Geneva, for that we employ a 226 Cobalt, but for this time of year, this boat is perfect. I set the speed to idle and stood up on the middle bench in the boat. With oar in my hand, I guided the boat around Conference Point towards Fontana, circling back at various depths in utter awe of the bottom of this lake that I could see in perfect clarity. This water is like Caribean water, and snorklers there have only coral on more brightly colored fish- as to water clarity- it’s a push. I’m guessing that the water temperature is about 47 degrees right now, and fish are spawning in great numbers. Not just your smallmouth and largemouth bass, which are plentiful in Geneva, but species that are very hard to catch, muchless see during warmer months.
I glided through rocky flats with remnants of old pier cribs on the bottom some 10′ to 15′ below. Bass and other fish moved slowly along the bottom in search of that perfect place to spawn this spring. I came upon the hump of earth that is Conference Point and was fascinated by the large rocky ridge that builds off of the point and heads into the deep towards Majestic ski hill. In about 15′ of water, that’s where I saw 4 huge spawning Walleyes. I’m a bit of a fisherman, so I’d guess that they were at least 30″ each, just resting on the bottom, either covering eggs that were just layed, or preparing to do just that. Amazing fish in these waters.
Pushing on towards Uhleins (sp) creek, I saw numerous lake trout spawning, northern pike, and many more walleye. It was an amazing experience. The rocky piles under water at the mouth of Uhleins Creek is something to behold on such a still calm afternoon. The depths of Geneva come terribly close to shore in this location, and my little depth finder registered 60′ of water, and I couldn’t have been more than 100′ from shore. The drop off was so intense that while floating above the rocks, I could see the shelf drop and in a matter of a few horizontal feet, the rocky bottom was gone.
What an amazing body of water we have here to use, appreciate, and enjoy. What might not sound like such a great afternoon to some, was an afternoon that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. That’s what Geneva does, beyond the expensive real estate, and congested downtowns, it leaves a mark on you, a mark that keeps you coming back.