The two chains meet here: the self-operated lock enters from the Hartridge canal on Conine's south side, so every boat arriving from the South Chain lands on these 233 acres first. From Conine, canals continue through the North Chain's navigable core toward Rochelle, Echo, Haines, and Smart — all one pool behind the Lake Smart structure.
Conine fishes the North Chain pattern: shiner bass through winter, grass spawners in spring, canal mouths always. The lock approach adds a steady trickle of passing traffic that never quite becomes pressure. The 2024 record-high levels reworked the margins across the North Chain; the wetland edges came back generous.
Plain English Summary
| Largemouth bass | Statewide regulations apply: five black bass daily, only one 16 inches or longer. Tournament traffic is a way of life on this chain — expect weigh-in mornings at the Shipp ramps. |
| Canal etiquette | The canals are the chain's streets: idle speed, single file, patience at the blind bends, and courtesy at the low fixed bridges — know your air draft before committing, especially the very low Cannon-Mirror bridge and the Cypress Gardens Boulevard crossing near Lake Roy. |
| The Hartridge-Conine lock | The public, self-operated lock on the Hartridge-Conine canal connects the South and North chains. It is currently open; questions go to the Lake Region Lakes Management District at 863-293-1441. Read the posted instructions and take your turn — it's simpler than it looks. |
| Full legal text | Official boating regulations → |
Is this where the lock comes out?
Can I boat the whole Winter Haven Chain from here?
Where does the chain's water go?
Why is Winter Haven called the Water Ski Capital of the World?
Lake Conine is 233 acres of tannin-dark water with one big distinction: the lock lands here. Every boat rising out of the South Chain through the self-operated chamber on the Hartridge–Conine canal surfaces onto this water first, and every southbound run stages its last calm minutes here. That makes small, residential-shored Conine the working gateway of the whole twenty-lake system.
The Lake Region Lakes Management District — the century-old special district that runs the lock — also keeps the public ramp: one concrete lane with launch and staging docks off SR 544, five trailer spots, free, open 24 hours. It's the shortest trailer-to-lock distance on either chain, which makes it the natural base for a lock day or a dawn start on the north side. Fish the canal mouths, give lock traffic its idle courtesy, and if you've never run the chamber yourself, watch a cycle from the ramp before you take your turn. The name is Dr. Westcott's third friendship lake — Howard, Hartridge, Conine, all named for the surveyor's friends in his 1849 survey.