"This would be a great day on the water if we didn't catch a fish," Nathaniel said as he pushed his paddle through the tea-colored water of Parrish Mill Pond, sliding the canoe through a gap between two tupelo trees and giving us both good casts to a pocket off the main creek channel.I agreed. The 400-acre mill pond, which, along with the mill itself, form the centerpiece of George L. Smith State Park in South Georgia, would be spectacular to explore with no fishing rod in hand. That didn't really matter, though, because we did catch fish, both bass and pickerel, despite it being very early in the year and us knowing little about the lake.
The pond, which is loaded with tupelos and cypress and has some shallow swampy areas, has three blazed canoe trail that together offer several miles of paddling opportunities. Bass, crappie, bluegills, pickerel and channel catfish all provide fishing opportunities, but the pictures on the wall of the park office suggest that really big largemouths are the main attraction to visiting fishermen. One bass weighed more than 14 pounds!
The pond's dam and the combination sawmill/gristmill and covered bridge were built in 1880 and have a rich history. Across the bridge, on a short hiking trail, visitors are apt to spot Georgia's state reptile, the gopher tortoise.
I had visited George L. Smith several years ago, while doing some writing research, and had always wanted to get back down there. Having spent today fishing the mill pond, I'm already longing to return and spend more time in this gem of a park!
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