Fly Fishing Bartow | Mary Holland Park
This lake has dark water of moderate depth. There is some aquatic vegetation, but if you are careful, a weed guard is not a necessity. There is some shore line vegetation, but fly casting is no problem. View full article →Fly Fishing Lakeland | Saddle Creek
This may be the easiest place to Fly Fish for Bass from the bank in Florida. Fishing is the prime activity at this large park, though hiking trails, boating, bird watching, canoeing & kayaking, and camping are available. The park is easy to find and extensive shore line calls out for fly fishing. View full article →Fly Fishing Lakeland | Lake Parker at Sertoma Park
FLY FISHING FOR BASS is a great activity in Lakeland, Florida. Surrounded by a highway and a power plant, Sertoma Park offers fly fishers a surprisingly good outing. This fishery is easy to get to.
At the south end of Lake Parker, hard by highway 92, near Taco Bell and Mojo’s Restaurant, nature co-exists with urban development nicely. Heron work the shore, diving Ospreys point the way to fish, and our Big Swimming Lizards are ever present. Wading is not recommended here.
- Sertoma Park has approximately seventy yards of shoreline, with clear water, welcoming the fly caster.
- The shallow water on the shore is fronted by reeds.
- In addition, the dock of the concrete boat ramp provides access to deeper, tannic water.
- Kayak fishing is a good way to reach the other side of the reeds.
TO FLY FISH FOR BASS at Sertoma Park; a thirty to forty foot cast is all that is required. A 4 weight fly rod with a floating line will do well here. Try a small bass popper, or a slidder. From the dock, the water becomes cloudier and deeper. Tie on a flashy, sinking fly like a Clouser or a EP Minnow.
LAKE PARKER offers several other opportunities to fish. Check out our web site for future articles.
Photos and Articles By Chris O'Byrne, Director of Fly Fishing Schools
Fly Fishing Dundee | Lake Marie
Central Florida Fly Fishing for Bass. Just a couple miles off the busy Highway 27 in the town of Dundee is a central Florida gem for the shorebound angler. Lake Marie and the park that encompasses it provides hundreds of yards of wide open shoreline great for the fly caster. With the low water the lake is actually split and provides two different bodies of water to fish. Walking the shoreline you can search for fish busting the surface of the water and make an accurate cast to catch panfish and Largemouth Bass.
With the shallow gradually sloping shoreline topwater patterns are going to be your most successful fly. During the heat of summer this means fishing earlier in the day and then again in the evening will be your most productive times to fish.
Although you don't need waders, knee-high boots or hip waders can give you a great advantage to get past the 10-15 feet of uncut grass along the shoreline and closer to the fish.
A stripping basket is a great tool and will make you shoreline stalking much more enjoyable and successful.
Parking access can be found at the small park on the north side of the lake. There is a small playground, picnic tables, and a restroom. You can also park at the very south end of the south lake in the grassy parking lot off the dirt road. Either way a nice paved walking path provides an easy way to walk around the entire lake.
There is access for kayaks and canoes from both the north and south end of the lake. This would provide a great way to work some of the deeper water and target schooling bass in the fall and spring.
To get to the park from Highway 27 turn East on Dundee Road (542) and follow the road 1.4 miles. The road will fork. Where the road forks it forms the northern parking lot and access. If you head right at the fork you can see the entire lake to your left and pull off on the dirt road at the very south end and park in the grassy lot there. Interactive Google Map below
Article by Craig Crumbliss, Author, Teacher, World class Angler