Our May Lake of the Month is Wolf Lake (set your GPS to 27.4220
-81.4740). The elevation of Wolf Lake 92’. On a 1959 plat map this lake is named
Orange Blossom Lake.
To view of bathymetric map of Wolf Lake please visit:
http://lakewatch.ifas.ufl.edu/RevisedMaps05/HighlandsMaps/WolfHighlandsMap.pdf
Wolf Lake is located 5.5 miles south of Sebring in Highlands County. The maximum
depth for Lake Persimmon is 5’ although deeper holes may exist. Wolf Lake drains into
Lake Josephine’s western basin. The only inflows are from rainfall, stormwater runoff,
and underground seepage. There is a direct link to the lake on the SW corner from a large
bayhead located west of the lake. There was much discussion over the water level of
Wolf Lake in the late 1990’s. Today there is a fixed level weir on the SE corner. The
watershed of Wolf Lake is quite large for such a small lake so when there is abundant
rainfall, the lake can temporarily flood.
Wolf Lake is 122 acres in size and is considered a muck lake. Although the lake is quite
shallow there are many feet of muck below that. Wolf Lake is considered distrophic lake;
natural lakes and ponds with brown tinted water due to peat and humic acids, generally
on peaty soils in bogs or in heaths with natural evolution toward bogs; pH is often low, 3
to 6. In August of 1997 or 1998 there was a plane crash in the lake. The plane sank into
the muck and was only retrieved after much effort.
Let’s go fishing. If you like fishing, Wolf Lake is reported to support good populations
of bluegill and possibly crappie. Apparently, bass fishing is not recommended. There are
very few homes directly on Wolf Lake making fishing more enjoyable. Highlands
County’s Parks and Natural Resources Department maintains one boat ramp on Wolf
Lake; located at 6346 Lakeside Drive West. While there is parking for vehicles with
trailers, there are no facilities. There is a mono-filament recycling bin. Please be sure to
put all unwanted fishing line in the bin for recycling. Fishing line left in the lake kills.
The fishing line is recycled and made into numerous fishing products such as line spools
and tackle boxes.
The water quality of Wolf Lake is very poor compared to most lakes in the county. Data
from LakeWatch shows one of the highest concentrations of phosphorus in the county.
Nitrogen levels are quite high as well. Elevated levels of TN and TP are not expressed as
elevated chlorophyll-a, perhaps due to the high levels of tannins in the lake. Highlands
County has summarized Wolf Lake’s water quality issues as, “Despite the high nutrient
levels, algae populations, as estimated by the chlorophyll concentration in the water, are
low in this lake.
This may be due to heavy natural staining of the water that reduces light penetration
needed for algal growth.” Wolf Lake has very little direct shoreline development.
Therefore, the extensive wetlands fringe along Wolf Lake may act as a source of tanninloading to the lake, which then acts to reduce the growth potential of phytoplankton
within the lake. Secchi disk readings from this lake (how far you can see into the water)
are one foot or less.
Wolf Lake Boat ramp.
Aerial image of Wolf Lake showing inlet on West side and outlet on SE corner.