Florida’s Top Catfish Waters for 2009
There aren’t too many people that think of catfish when you talk about fishing in Florida. There are so many saltwater opportunities to go along with some excellent bass fishing throughout the state that catfish seem to be pretty low on most anglers’ priority list when they are in Florida.
For those of you that plan to do some fishing for catfish in Florida this year, the FWC is helping you make your decision on where to fish a little bit easier. They compiled a list of the top places to fish for catfish in Florida for the 2009 season and we’re going to do a quick recap of the areas that they selected.
Apalachicola is known for its excellent saltwater fishing for a variety of species and some excellent largemouth bass fishing in the Apalachicola River. Most people don’t realize how good of a river the Apalachicola River is for catfish. Spring through summer seems to be the best times to catch good numbers of channel catfish and flathead catfish. There are plenty of big fish to be caught as well. Anglers typically have their best success by targeting deep holes with structure, old creek channels and around the mouths of tributaries. Live bream fished on the bottom is how most anglers will target these catfish.
Choctawhatchee River is known for its outstanding channel catfish and flathead catfish fishing. The northern portion of the river seems to produce more large fish and it’s possible to catch flathead catfish in the 30 pound range in this river. Try fishing with live bream in the deep pools and you’ll have a chance of catching some of the bigger catfish that this river holds.
The Escambia River provides anglers an opportunity to catch channel, flathead and blue catfish. Channel catfish seem to be taken on nightcrawlers and stinkbaits, but live bream fished on the bottom is the way to catch some of the big flathead and blue catfish.
St. John’s River and Dunn’s Creek provides some very good catfish opportunities during the warmer waters of the late spring through summer. These waters have bullhead, channel, flathead and blue catfish.
The Ochlockonee River is another good river to fish in Florida for catfish. You can catch bullhead, channel, flathead and blue catfish here.
The Clermont Chain of Lakes are known for more bass fishing, but there is some excellent fishing in the spring and fall for channel catfish and white catfish. The canals and channels seem to always hold some fish. Cut baits, stinkbaits, nightcrawlers and even live bream will work.
The Upper Kissimmee Chain of Lakes aren’t only good for bass fishing. Catfishermen can catch plenty of fish in these waters. April and June are great times to target spawning channel catfish. Try fishing the many canals and you’ll have some success.
For more detailed information on Florida’s top catfish waters, take a look at the FWC website. http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/FW_sites_topcatfish.htm
Florida’s Top Bream Waters For 2009
For those of you that don’t know what a “bream” is, bream is simply a term used locally throughout the southeast that includes a variety of panfish such as bluegill, redear sunfish, spotted sunfish, redbreast sunfish and warmouth. Another southeastern term is shellcracker which is another word for redear sunfish. Now that you’re caught up with the terminology down there, let’s cover the top panfish waters.
Lake Kissimmee has consistently been a good bream fishing lake. Crickets in open water and near the vegetation along the shorelines are good places to start for catching bream on this lake.
Lake Toho is nationally known for its bass fishing, but if you have some time to break out the light tackle, you can catch plenty of good-sized bream in this lake as well.
Lake Panasoffkee is a lake west of Leesburg, Florida that is known for its excellent shellcracker and bluegill populations, although, bluegill have been dominating the population over the past couple of years.
Lake Talquin is one of the top crappie fishing lakes in all of Florida, but you may want to try break out some of the bream baits while you’re here and you may fill a livewell with crappie and bream.
The Tenoroc Fish Management Area has plenty of phosphate pit lakes that hold plenty of bream. Worms, crickets and most bluegill lures will work well on these lakes. Fall seems to be a great time to catch these pan-sized treats.
The Lake Harris Chain has plenty of shorelines with cover that will naturally hold plenty of bream. Take a break from the bass fishing and you may surprise yourself with some nice-sized bream from this lake.
For more detailed information on the top Florida bream waters, take a look at the FWC website. http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/FW_sites_topbream.htm
Florida’s Top Crappie Waters For 2009
A quick recap of Florida’s top crappie waters for 2009 based on the FWC.
Lake Talquin is located west of Tallahassee and this seems like the place to go for catching monster crappie in Florida. The state record crappie that was just under 4 pounds was caught here and 2 pounds crappie are fairly common here. That just gives you a little info on how good the crappie fishing is on Lake Talquin. This lake has lots of submerged stumps and snags, which is great for the fishing, but make sure to use caution when boating on this lake.
Orange Lake / Lochloosa Lake - These lakes are located between Gainesville and Ocala, Florida. They have been getting better and better over the past few years. Crappie over 1 pound are fairly common and crappie over 2 pounds are possible. Low water levels have made access to this lake a little harder, but the Heagy-Burry Park boat ramp seems to be good for access. This boat ramp is located on Orange Lake, so make sure to know where this boat ramp is if the water levels are very low on your planned trip to these lakes.
Lake Weir, located in Marion County near Weirsdale, Florida, is another very good crappie lake. This lake is unique for Florida in the fact that it has some depths over 20 feet with some irregular bottom contours. The FWC maintains 12 brush fish attractors that are prime fishing areas. Anglers can take advantage of them by calling the FWC fisheries biologists at (352) 732-1225. The biologists have GPS coordinates for the brust attractors that they maintain in Lake Weir.
Crescent Lake is located in Flagler and Putnam counties. It is a big lake, covering 15,960 acres and it is a tributary of the St. John’s River. Public access is available on the west shore off of Highway 17 in Crescent City, Florida. This lake has its good and bad years, but it is typically a very good crappie lake and 2009 looks like it’s going to be a good year for the crappie fishing on Crescent Lake.
Lake Marian is located in Osceola County east of Lake Kissimmee. This lake covers more than 5,700 acres and it is loaded with crappie. You won’t catch tons of giant crappie here, but there are lots of them here in the 9 inch range and up.
Lake Toho is known more for its bass fishing, but the crappie fishing can be excellent as well here. The crappie are here in numbers and in size. Quite a few crappie over 2 pounds have been reported this year already and it’s still early. Check out the FWC for their gps coordinates of the fish attractors and you’ll have some great spots to start looking for crappie. You can call the FWC at (352) 732-1225.
Lake Kissimmee is known for more its bass fishing, but things are starting to change here. Over the last 4 years, the crappie fishing has definitely improved and there are more anglers that are starting to target this lake for crappie. There are good numbers of fish with plenty of big fish in this lake. Hopefully, it will continue to get better over the next 4 years.
Tenoroc / Mosaic Fish Management Areas - These 2 areas consists of phosphate pit lakes that have some depth to them. There are numerous lakes to fish and the FWC website goes into a little more detail on the best lakes to fish.
Lake Istokpoga is a great bass lake, but it’s a great lake for crappie fishing in the winter. There are 28,000 acres to fish, which means there are a lot of places to catch crappie, but you may have to spend some time on this lake to find the most productive areas.
Lake Trafford is a smaller lake located 30 miles southeast of Fort Myers. It is known as more of a numbers lake for crappie. These fish will school up in open water as well as hang out along the cover around the shorelines.
For more detailed information on the top crappie waters in Florida, take a look at the FWC website. http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/FW_sites_topcrappie.htm
Florida’s Top Striped Bass Waters For 2009
Just doing a quick recap of Florida’s top striped bass waters for 2009 according to the FWC. Striped bass are a very popular fish to catch in Florida, however, they are often overlooked because of all of the excellent saltwater fishing opportunities to go along with all of the largemouth bass fishing in Florida.
Apalachicola River / Lake Seminole - The state record striped bass, sunshine bass and white bass were all caught in the Apalachicola River / Lake Seminole water system. That says a lot for the fishing in these waters. Striped bass in the 20 pound range are very common and sunshine bass in the 7 to 10 pound range are also common. Striped bass over 40 pounds are possible here.
Lake Talquin / Ochlockonee River - Striped bass and white bass thrive in these waters. There is a heavy stocking program of striped bass. 10 to 20 fish per acre are stocked here annually and that has resulted in quality striped bass in the 10 to 20 pound range being common. 30 pound fish are not as common, but they do exist in these waters. The white bass can hold their own as well in this water system with 3 to 5 pound fish being fairly common.
The St. John’s River is known for its excellent largemouth bass fishing, but the striped bass fishing is very good as well. 8 to 12 pound striped bass are common because of an aggressive stocking program, although the monster striped bass over 20 pounds are pretty rare.
Blackwater and Yellow Rivers - These rivers are located northeast of Pensacola and they are stocked annually with striped bass and this stocking schedule has helped to produce a fishery where 10 to 20 pound striped bass are common and fish up to 30 pounds are possible.
Choctawhatchee River - This river is located northwest of Panama City and it has been stocked with striped bass and sunshine bass. The fishing is very good for striped bass and sunshine bass, but the FWC didn’t say anything about the sizes of the fish in this river.
The Escambia River is located north of Pensacola, Florida. The stocking schedule is annual with striped bass and sunshine bass alternating every year. The striped bass aren’t monsters here like some of the other places that have been featured, however, fish in the 10 to 12 pound range are fairly common in the Escambia River.
St. Mary’s / Nassau Rivers - Located north of Jacksonville, Florida, this river system is stocked with striped bass, but most of the population consists of fish that are naturally reproducing and from fish migrating into these rivers from the St. John’s River.
Eagle Lake is located northeast of Lake City, Florida. This area is actually a fish management area that features a 200 acre lake that is actually a phosphate pit. It is heavily stocked with 50 to 100 sunshine bass per acre. There are tons of fish in this lake and these sunshine bass reach the 5 to 7 pound range in just 2 years because of the good population of bait fish in the lake.
Edward Medard Lake is located east of Brandon, Florida and it is a 700 acre phosphate pit lake that has a good population of sunshine bass. There are 100 sunshine bass stocked per acre every year. Those numbers are kind of ridiculous. If you want to catch some fish, there are plenty of fish in this lake.
Osborne - Ida Chain of Lakes - This water system consists of Lake Osborne and Lake Ida as well as 3 other small lakes called Clarke, Pine and Catherine. There are good numbers of sunshine bass in these lakes, but they run a little small with many fish in the 1 to 3 pound range.
For more detailed information on the top striped bass waters of Florida, take a look at the FWC website. http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/FW_sites_topstriper.htm
Florida’s Top Largemouth Bass Waters For 2009
- A couple of bass caught from Kissimmee, Florida. Photos provided by Ray Frenette’s Guide Service.
The FWC released their top largemouth bass fishing lakes for the state of Florida for 2009. We are going to do a short recap of these lakes and the fishing opportunities in these lakes.
Lake George is one of the top bass fishing lakes in all of Florida and it continues to produce year after year. It is part of the St. John’s river system and it has extensive vegetation that gives bass plenty of places to hide.
Some of the hot spots that they listed were the Juniper, Salt and Silver Glen spring runs on the western shoreline of the lake. In the colder months, bass tend to congregate at the jetties along the south end of the lake. The northeast shore and off of Drayton Island provide old dock structures that are always good places to look for bass. There is one fish camp on the lake and a couple of others just north and south of Lake George on the St. John’s River. There is one fish camp located on the lake and it is called Pine Island Fish Camp. As far as launching your boat, there is also one public boat launch with limited parking along the south end of the lake off Blue Creek Lodge Road.
Lake Toho is a very popular lake that has been featured on many fishing shows. This lake is located adjacent to the city of Kissimmee in central Florida. This lake is known for holding very big bass with 10 pound bass being caught here every year. Fishing with live shiners near shoreline vegetation seems to be the most popular way to consistently catch bass here.
There are 2 fish camps, one marina, one county park and 5 public boat ramps available to anglers. Combine that with 2 fishing piers and plenty of access points for bank fisherman along Lakeshore Drive and Neptune Road at the north end of the lake and you can see why so many people spend their time fishing this lake.
Lake Kissimmee is a huge lake and it is nationally known for producing high quality fish year after year. With over 35,000 acres, plenty of fish habitat and lots of bass, you have plenty of places to try to catch a bass here. There are 3 fish camps, 2 public boat ramps and a state park available to anglers.
Rodman Reservoir is located east of Gainesville, Florida and it covers 9,500 acres. This lake has lots of largemouth bass habitat, which helps this lake put out quality bass every year. Catching bass here is easiest by using live shiners, just like every other bass lake in Florida. The pool area along the river channel is where most big bass are caught on this lake. This area is known as the “stump fields.”
At normal water levels, anglers can find boat ramps near the town of Interlachen off C.R. 315 in Orange Springs and Kenwood. You can also find boat ramps at the Rodman Recreational Area off Hwy 19 and at Eureka off of C.R. 316.
Lake Tarpon is a 2,500 acre lake located near the Tampa / St. Petersburg area of Florida. With average fish in the 12 to 16 inch range, you’d think that this lake shouldn’t be on this list, but there are plenty of big bass in this lake and this lake has been conistently producing big bass over the years.
Lake Tarpon has 2 public boat ramps within count parks. Anderson Park boat ramp is located on the west shore off of U.S. 19 and Chestnut Park boat ramp in located on the east side of the lake off of C.R. 611. There are some boardwalks and fishing piers that can also be productive areas to fish for bass.
Lake Weohyakapka (Lake Walk-In-Water) is located south of Orlando and east of Lake Wales and is just south of S.R. 60. This lake is known for its excellent big bass fishing. There is a protected slot limit for fish between 15 and 24 inches long, which should help to maintain this excellent bass fishery. While lures will work here, most of the big bass come on wild shiners near some type of vegetation. There is a public boat ramp located on Boat Landing Road, which runs east off of Walk-in-the-Water Road, just a few miles south of S.R. 60.
Lake Istokpoga is a 28,000 acre lake that often gets overlooked. In the past, there have been angler surveys with estimates of more than 1,000 bass caught over 8 pounds in less than a year. That’s some pretty good fishing. There are several fish camps and 4 public boat ramps that provide access to this lake.
Deer Point Lake is a popular bass fishing destination located in the panhandle of Florida near Panama City. The bass fishing is very good here, although, it does slow down in the winter with the colder weather. The spring time is definitely the time to get out on this lake though. The bass fishing really heats up here in March, April and May. This lake has a tremendous amount of flooded cypress trees here, which is great for bass fishing, but not for operating a boat. Be careful on this lake when operating your boat.
The Suwannee River is an excellent river system for catching good numbers of bass. This isn’t the place to go to try to catch that 10 pound bass. Good numbers of bass are here though, which might be what you are looking for. Crayfish are the main food source for bass on this river system, so plan accordingly when you drop a line into this river.
The Everglades Water Conservation Areas 2 and 3 may be a little bit of a drive for most anglers, but it’s definitely a place worth fishing if you have the time and the money to get down here. Time it just right here and 50 bass days are easily possible. Time it wrong and you still may land 10 or more bass on a half day fishing outing. The Everglades is not known for putting out huge numbers of big bass, but there are lots of decent-sized to good-sized bass in the Everglades.
Lake Monroe is a shallow 9,400 acre lake that had an excellent sampling of bass in the spring of 2008. An electrosampling of this lake had higher catch rates than any other lake on the St. John’s River System and there were good numbers of bass 8 pounds and bigger. 2009 may offer some excellent fishing on this lake, so it’s definitely worth a trip if you are going to be in this area. The lake is located on the north side of Sanford near Orlando, Florida.
The Tenoroc Fish Management Area Lakes near Lakeland, Florida provide a special opportunity to fish in Florida’s famous phosphate pits. These lakes range from 7 acres to 227 acres and have depths up to 35 feet. The bass fishing can be incredible on these lakes and there are strict limits to make sure the bass population continues to thrive.
The Mosaic Fish Management Area also is made up of phosphate lakes. They produce some excellent bass and anglers can fish on the 12 different lakes that range from 10 to 200 acres with depths up to 30 feet.
For more detailed information from the FWC, take a look at their page that covers these popular bass fishing waters. http://myfwc.com/Recreation/FW_sites_topbass.htm
Prince William Sound Fishing
Photo from alaskan4starcharters.com
Fishing the Prince William Sound of Alaska can be very exciting. The towns of Cordova, Whittier and Valdez are prime fishing grounds for 5 types of salmon, halibut, sharks and more.
Cordova has plenty of charter boats available to take you saltwater fishing for salmon, halibut and sharks. You also have the option of fishing the Copper River for king salmon, coho salmon, sockeye salmon and a variety of trout species.
Valdez offers a unique experience for a variety of salmon, halibut and other bottom saltwater species. This area is known for the pink salmon fishing runs because millions of pink salmon return on even-numbered years.
Whittier is a small town that offers excellent saltwater fishing for 5 types of salmon, halibut, ling cod and rockfish.
For more information on the types of lodging and the available fishing charters, take a look at our tourism links below.
- Cordova Fishing Charters
- Cordova Lodging
- Valdez Fishing Charters
- Valdez Lodging
- Whittier Fishing Charters
- Whittier Lodging
Fishing Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula
Photo from www.alaskariveradventures.com
Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula attracts anglers from all over the country to experience some of the excellent salmon, trout and halibut fishing. Some of the towns that are fishermen call their home base for a week or so on their vacation are Seward, Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Ninilchik, Cooper Landing, Moose Pass and Hope, Alaska.
Seward is located at the head of Resurrection Bay and the saltwater fishing is excellent here for salmon and halibut, but anglers can also catch ling cod and rockfish here. Seward is about an hour and a half to 2 and a half hours away from the Kenai river depending on which part you decide to fish. From Seward, you can experience some of the great saltwater fishing and still enjoy a day on the Kenai river if you choose to make a drive.
Kenai is where the Kenai river ends and all the adventure begins for the annual salmon run up this river. You will have to deal with the crowds in this area, but there are plenty of fish to catch. Anglers can also fish the Cook Inlet if they want to catch salmon or big halibut.
Soldotna is a very popular town that attracts thousands of fishermen that are looking to catch huge salmon and trout out of the Kenai river. Expect the crowds if you are coming to Soldotna.
Homer, Alaska offers some excellent saltwater fishing in Kachemak Bay. Numerous fishing charters are available and they target salmon and halibut. This area is very popular and there is really no reason to leave this area while you’re on your trip because the fishing is that good here, but a drive to the Kenai river is doable for a day trip.
Ninilchik has 3 main areas that fishermen flock to: the Cook Inlet, Ninilchik River and Deep Creek. The Cook Inlet provides excellent salmon and halibut fishing opportunities while the Ninilchik River and Deep Creek give you an opportunity to catch summer run salmon.
Cooper Landing is known for its premier salmon and trout fishing on the Upper Kenai River and on the Kasilof River. King salmon, silver salmon, red salmon, rainbow trout and dolly varden are available in this area. The town is small, but it’s a popular fishing vacation destination in Alaska.
Moose Pass offers some lakes to fish in town, but most people aren’t coming here for that. Fishermen will stay in Moose Pass, but they will head just west to fish the Kenai and Kasilof rivers for salmon and trout.
Hope is a small town located just south of Anchorage. The fishing can be very good here on Twentymile River, Resurrection Creek and Six Mile Creek. Salmon and trout are what people come here to catch and there are plenty of fish to catch in this area.
To find more information on all of these areas, take a look at our tourism links below. There are plenty of places to stay and numerous fishing guides and charters in the area, which gives you plenty of options for planning your trip to Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.
- Seward Fishing Guides - Charters
- Seward Lodging
- Kenai Fishing Guides - Charters
- Kenai Lodging
- Soldotna Fishing Guides - Charters
- Soldotna Lodging
- Homer Fishing Guides - Charters
- Homer Lodging
- Ninilchik Fishing Guides - Charters
- Ninilchik Lodging
- Cooper Landing Fishing Guides - Charters
- Cooper Landing Lodging
- Moose Pass Fishing Guides - Charters
- Moose Pass Lodging
- Hope Fishing Guides - Charters
- Hope Lodging
South Central Alaska Fishing - Anchorage, Copper River Valley, Mat-Su Valley
Photo from www.fish4salmon.com
The areas of south central Alaska that cover Anchorage, the Copper River Valley and the Mat-Su Valley attract tons of fishermen every year because of the excellent salmon and trout fishing. Anchorage is more of a starting point for most anglers. People fly into Anchorage, then take off to their destination for their fishing vacation, however, there are some places to catch salmon in Anchorage and there are some fishing guides that do guide out of the Anchorage area.
For the fishermen that are heading over to the Copper River Valley part of Alaska, the Gulkana, Klutina and Copper rivers are where they will most likely end up. Numerous guides target these rivers for salmon and trout. The towns are small in this area, but there are still plenty of places to stay and the fishing can be outstanding. You can also find quite a few places where there is excellent fishing away from the crowds.
The Mat-Su Valley area is located just north of Anchorage and some of the top areas to fish in this area are Clear Creek, Fish Creek, the Yentna River Drainage and the Little Susitna River. These rivers and streams will fill with 5 species of Pacific salmon and the runs get started in July and runs through August.
You can also catch rainbow trout, dolly varden and grayling in some of the rivers. If you want to take a break from the salmon and trout, there are very big northern pike that can be caught in some of the surrounding lakes.
To find more information on these areas, take a look at our tourism links below.
