Lake Joe

Lake Joe

 

This six-acre lake is named after Joseph B. Fraser who with his brother Charles was an early developer of Sea Pines. In 1964 Sea Pines Company excavated a section of an airplane runway to create the first of five lakes in the Forest Preserve. Rainwater (over 50 inches per year on Hilton Head Island) runoff from high land as well as groundwater seepage soon filled the lake. Lake Joe is presently 20 feet deep in the center but the surface level fluctuates 4-5 feet depending on rainfall. 

 

Watch for animals near the water line. Grassy banks are favorite sunbathing spots for American alligators. You may see gators swimming in the lake in summer. Tadpoles and nunnow-sized mosquito fish swarm in the shoals. Larger fish - smallmouth bass, bluegill sunfish (“bream”) and crappie - come to feed and become prey for wading and swimming birds. 

 

 

Submitted by

Bryan Arnold

@nanowhiskers