Fall Florida Trip

[Koz]

I’m finally planning a real vacation this year and I’ll be packing up my truck and kayak and heading to Florida for some fishing for 10-12 days.

 

I plan to rough it for the most part, sleeping in my Bronco or in a tent. I can always shower at Planet Fitness if I can find one. I will also be stopping and staying with a friend in Fort Myers for a few days. I can actually charge my kayak batteries using the outlet in my truck.

 

Below are the lakes I plan to fish. Are there any I should discard or add? I’m driving down from Georgia and tried to find on or two en route.

 

Orange Lake

Toho

Istokpoga 

Panasoffkee 

 

I hope to fish two days at each lake.

 

Others I considered were:

 

Harris Chain

Lake George

Rodman Reservoir

Stick Marsh

 

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

Headwaters it's right next to Stickmarsh. 

[Mike L]

You don’t say when you’re coming but it’s a good list

Absolutely Toho, Istokpoga, and Rodman

I’d add Blue Cypress and Headwaters if you don’t mind being crowded. 
Harris Chain is another one I would list, try Little Harris or Apopka first which is closer to Disney 

 

You got Todo in the Kissimmee Chain listed but I would also try Hatchineha if you wanted. 

St Johns River is always good but I’d get some local info before you go. 

I’ve been reading on here lately that Sick Marsh/Farm 13 may not be worth it for awhile which is really sad.
You can check it out if you want for a few hours if you go to Headwaters as it’s at the end of the same road. 

Then theres The Big O (The south shore is 1 1/2 hrs from Ft Myers, less to the west side) and the Glades If you have time to drive farther South. 

If you decide to fish The Lake let me know and I’ll try to point you in the right direction regardless of when you go. 
 

 

 

Good Luck

 

 

Mike
 

[Koz]

23 minutes ago, Mike L said:

You don’t say when you’re coming but it’s a good list

Absolutely Toho, Istokpoga, and Rodman

I’d add Blue Cypress and Headwaters if you don’t mind being crowded. 
Harris Chain is another one I would list, try Little Harris or Apopka first which is closer to Disney 

 

You got Todo in the Kissimmee Chain listed but I would also try Hatchineha if you wanted. 

St Johns River is always good but I’d get some local info before you go. 

I’ve been reading on here lately that Sick Marsh/Farm 13 may not be worth it for awhile which is really sad.
You can check it out if you want for a few hours if you go to Headwaters as it’s at the end of the same road. 

Then theres The Big O (The south shore is 1 1/2 hrs from Ft Myers, less to the west side) and the Glades If you have time to drive farther South. 

If you decide to fish The Lake let me know and I’ll try to point you in the right direction regardless of when you go. 
 

 

 

Good Luck

 

 

Mike
 

Thanks. I’m going to pass on the Big O this time. The reports I have seen is that it’s not near the fishery that it once was.

 

My AP120 is not conducive for river fishing and I don’t want to bring two kayaks (my other being a Seastream pedal kayak).

 

I’ll check out the other lakes. Part of the reasoning for my selections is I think that the Bassmaster Kayak Series will have a Florida stop next year and I’d like to be at least a little familiar with the potential stops. That may allow me to shave a day of practice off my trip and save me some money.

[Zcoker]

Garcia is a hidden gem, easy launch area 24/hour parking with tables and lighting. Never an issue with sleeping. Only place to launch at Headwaters is by the Stickmarsh, which can be tough because of all the vegetation build-up at the primitive kayak site. Have to lug everything quite a ways down the levee and then down a big hill. It often changes, so one week it may be accessible and then the next week totally blocked. The other option is the boat launch, which is a rough ride down a narrow canal filled with bass boats wide open. But it does offer up some good fishing if you know where to go. Stickmarsh is a waste of time with kayak, in my opinion, but it is open 24/7. Headwaters closed at night. Check out Blue Cypress next to Garcia for some scenic scenes. Easy camping with fires allowed. Can always home-base there for the entire area. Totally awesome lake to explore and fish, all natural and one of the nicest lakes in Florida. Kenansville is hit or miss but home to some very big bass. I caught 9 pounder on my first cast there....the one cast wonder lol. Jurassic Park, it's called. A 14 was recently caught there. So plan on some combat fishing if ya go there! It can be hard to navigate with the vegetation build-up but they have since cleared a lot of that stuff out, so it may be much better come Fall. Lake Placid is another hidden gem. Not a big lake but it holds some true monsters. Easy park-n-launch on the west side. Deep and spring fed. There's always the Everglades if all else fails and you want some fish lol. 

 

Blue Cypress home base camping basically free. Nice facilities! I think it was a $10 admin fee if I recall correctly for the whole weekend.  

 

 

Fires allowed

 

 

 

[Mike L]

49 minutes ago, Koz said:

Thanks. I’m going to pass on the Big O this time. The reports I have seen is that it’s not near the fishery that it once was.

 

Koz

Don’t believe everything you hear. 

This time of the year you gotta know where to go and how and when to use what. 
 

Regardless, you have a plan. 
 

Let us know how you do. 
 

Be Safe

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

52 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

Garcia is a hidden gem, easy launch area 24/hour parking with tables and lighting. Never an issue with sleeping. Only place to launch at Headwaters is by the Stickmarsh, which can be tough because of all the vegetation build-up at the primitive kayak site. Have to lug everything quite a ways down the levee and then down a big hill. It often changes, so one week it may be accessible and then the next week totally blocked. The other option is the boat launch, which is a rough ride down a narrow canal filled with bass boats wide open. But it does offer up some good fishing if you know where to go. Stickmarsh is a waste of time with kayak, in my opinion, but it is open 24/7. Headwaters closed at night. Check out Blue Cypress next to Garcia for some scenic scenes. Easy camping with fires allowed. Can always home-base there for the entire area. Totally awesome lake to explore and fish, all natural and one of the nicest lakes in Florida. Kenansville is hit or miss but home to some very big bass. I caught 9 pounder on my first cast there....the one cast wonder lol. Jurassic Park, it's called. A 14 was recently caught there. So plan on some combat fishing if ya go there! It can be hard to navigate with the vegetation build-up but they have since cleared a lot of that stuff out, so it may be much better come Fall. Lake Placid is another hidden gem. Not a big lake but it holds some true monsters. Easy park-n-launch on the west side. Deep and spring fed. There's always the Everglades if all else fails and you want some fish lol. 

 

Blue Cypress home base camping basically free. Nice facilities! I think it was a $10 admin fee if I recall correctly for the whole weekend.  

 

 

Fires allowed

 

 

 

I was on Placid last Friday and Saturday got 5 & 6. 
None less than a 4. We stayed no more than 200 yrds on both sides of the ramp

I forgot about Kenansville. 
Great Choice

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

[SC53]

You have some big lakes on your list.  George, Harris Chain and Toho.

George especially.  It’s the second largest in Florida behind okeechobee.
Are you comfortable in your kayak on big bodies of water?

 

@Zcoker has a lot of good info and I think he’s a kayak guy too.

Like @Dwight Hottle said, Headwaters is next to Stick Marsh. There is a levee that separates the two. Stick Marsh is coming off a drawdown last summer so it’s still on the recovery from that.  But there’s still fish to catch there.

The C54 canal runs along the north side of the road to both of them and can be good at times if it’s too windy on HW & SM.

Blue Cypress and Garcia are two you probably want to add to your list as they are in the same general area as HW & SM. And are smaller lakes. 

I live right off the St John’s river in Debary so if you decide to try it, let me know.

Your list is also quite spread out in Florida with Orange near Ocala and Istapoga SW of okeechobee.

 

[crypt]

6 hours ago, Mike L said:

You don’t say when you’re coming but it’s a good list

Absolutely Toho, Istokpoga, and Rodman

I’d add Blue Cypress and Headwaters if you don’t mind being crowded. 
Harris Chain is another one I would list, try Little Harris or Apopka first which is closer to Disney 

 

You got Todo in the Kissimmee Chain listed but I would also try Hatchineha if you wanted. 

St Johns River is always good but I’d get some local info before you go. 

I’ve been reading on here lately that Sick Marsh/Farm 13 may not be worth it for awhile which is really sad.
You can check it out if you want for a few hours if you go to Headwaters as it’s at the end of the same road. 

Then theres The Big O (The south shore is 1 1/2 hrs from Ft Myers, less to the west side) and the Glades If you have time to drive farther South. 

If you decide to fish The Lake let me know and I’ll try to point you in the right direction regardless of when you go. 
 

 

 

Good Luck

 

 

Mike
 

this in a nutshell......

[Koz]

2 hours ago, SC53 said:

You have some big lakes on your list.  George, Harris Chain and Toho.

George especially.  It’s the second largest in Florida behind okeechobee.
Are you comfortable in your kayak on big bodies of water?

 

 

I don't mind the big lakes. I've fished Guntersville, Lanier, Clark's Hill, and Hartwell. I live on Sinclair and work on Oconee and they are decent sized but very narrow and you get used to boat traffic.

 

I also never do anything dumb to put myself in jeopardy. I'm extremely cautious on the water.

 

And it's not like I have a lot of range on a kayak, even with the motor.

 

There are a ton of great options out there, but a few in particular that I want to fish because I think the Bassmaster Kayak Series will be at one of them. Typically they release the schedule for the following year at the end of October, about the time I plan to head on vacation.

[Chris at Tech]

No saltwater???

[TnRiver46]

Ft myers is good inshore saltwater fishing 

[Koz]

38 minutes ago, Chris at Tech said:

No saltwater???

No. This is a big bass outing and I’m not rigged for saltwater.

[TOXIC]

I can’t add much.  I am a little disappointed we didn’t fish Blue Cypress the last 2 years we fished Headwaters and stayed on Blue Cypress in some rooms where we could have docked our boats right outside our doors.  I lived on the St Johns for a couple of years and the fishing is not “easy”, I found it tough until I got connected with a local river rat.  I’ve fished Okeechobee for a week straight twice and was able to put together good bags but we covered a lot of water.  I fished Kissimmee, Harris Chain, Toho and Rodman when I lived in JAX and all have different personalities.  I like Headwaters because it has a very good population of “trophy” size fish and it’s much more concentrated making it a tad bit easier. Pic is a Headwaters fish and the rooms on Blue Cypress.

[Alex from GA]

Lake Rousseau isn't too far from Panasoffkee and there are some big fish there also.  I winter between the 2 lakes and fish them both several times during the winter.

[N Florida Mike]

Ive got some smaller , quieter water lakes  if you get tired of the big lakes and crowds…

Out of that list Orange and Rodman . Lake george too. Ive fished them, but not lately. Did best overall in Orange…

[Zcoker]

If you wanna go by the record books, FWC recently dubbed Headwaters Lake as the best trophy bass fishery in the state. Orange lake came in second. The contest was called "Battle of the Lakes." 

[TOXIC]

@Zcokershhhhhhhhh….😂

[Zcoker]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

@Zcokershhhhhhhhh….😂

 

Oh, I forget. Headwaters is not open. They've been working diligently on the boat launch and boat launch parking lot, amongst other things. So please check back with us at a later date. Thank you! 

[crypt]

1 hour ago, Zcoker said:

 

Oh, I forget. Headwaters is not open. They've been working diligently on the boat launch and boat launch parking lot, amongst other things. So please check back with us at a later date. Thank you! 

it should be ready next year sometime..................that's what I here.......and i'm half deaf....

[Koz]

On 9/9/2024 at 2:15 PM, Zcoker said:

If you wanna go by the record books, FWC recently dubbed Headwaters Lake as the best trophy bass fishery in the state. Orange lake came in second. The contest was called "Battle of the Lakes." 

Orange Lake is on my list as I’ll be driving right by it. Headwaters might be a bit too far off my planned path for this trip. 

 

I want to keep drive time to a minimum so I can maximize sleeping and fishing.

[Zcoker]

13 hours ago, Koz said:

Orange Lake is on my list as I’ll be driving right by it. Headwaters might be a bit too far off my planned path for this trip. 

 

I want to keep drive time to a minimum so I can maximize sleeping and fishing.

 

I hear ya. Never have fished Orange Lake but I’ve heard it’s a big open lake and if that’s what you like, more power to ya. Headwaters is, I will say, a bit more kayak friendly. Shallow water fishing with only a few deep areas. I’ve transversed most of Headwaters in my powered kayak with no issues and with juice still remaining. If you do decide to go there on a whim, you take the rim canal from the launch pass the Indian mound straight to the enhanced area. The north side is pretty much topped out and you’ll be doing more paddling than motoring. Happy hunting 🐟

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

@Koz I just talked to a guide friend that fished Orange lake recently. He said it was currently very choked out with weed growth. He also said that the adjacent lake Lochloosa connected by Cross Creek was also highly rated for quality bass. Might be worth your time to check it out.   

[Koz]

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

@Koz I just talked to a guide friend that fished Orange lake recently. He said it was currently very choked out with weed growth. He also said that the adjacent lake Lochloosa connected by Cross Creek was also highly rated for quality bass. Might be worth your time to check it out.   

Thanks for the info. 

 

Unfortunately, right now my plans are on hold. Not canceled, just on hold. We’re short staffed at my hotel and I need to address that first.

[GRiver]

Hey @Koz, your delay might be a good thing. I live on St. John’s near Lake George. We are flooded here, and the weather is crappy. When it flooded like this, seems the bass move into the flooded area and feed. Might do good on a kayak, with a bass boat( it very little, 15ft)  I’ve nosed in around the cypress and pitched creature bait or soft plastics Texas rigged.
It’s rough fishing, snags, hitting stuff with trolling motor, and snakes. Everything gets displaced when it floods, even the gators, had a 5+ footer up in the yard two days ago. 

When you do head this way, Rodman has a campground and the fishing is good. It has a ton of submerged stumps though.