Headwaters lake, Fellsmere Fl.

[Ski]

This is Headwaters lake located just over the berm from the famous Stick Marsh in Fellsmere Fl. Headwaters lake is 10,000 acres of prime trophy Bass fishing and home to just as many GATORS.                                                                     https://fb.watch/tFR-aFdnCU/

[Zcoker]

Lotta folks already know about Headwaters and Stickmarsh and Kenansville. Anything you wanna add? 

[Ski]

3 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

Lotta folks already know about Headwaters and Stickmarsh and Kenansville. Anything you wanna add? 

Did the video open for ya?

[Zcoker]

Yeah, looks like a typical morning yawn lol I was just at Kenansville all night in my kayak and they were all over the place there as well....pretty typical this time of year with the low water levels. 

 

To add a bit more info for those areas: the 12 mile dirt road to Kenansville is 3/4 paved. They just finished up the last leg of the paving project. 

[Ski]

4 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

Yeah, looks like a typical morning yawn lol I was just at Kenansville all night in my kayak and they were all over the place there as well....pretty typical this time of year with the low water levels. 

 

To add a bit more info for those areas: the 12 mile dirt road to Kenansville is 3/4 paved. They just finished up the last leg of the paving project. 

Last time I was @ Kenansville the lake was just about choked out with Hydrilla.

[Zcoker]

1 minute ago, Ski said:

Last time I was @ Kenansville the lake was just about choked out with Hydrilla.

 

Still topped out and dying. They nuked it into oblivion, so not much of anything left for floating vegetation. The fishing there was horrible. I got there about sundown, stayed until about 4am and then split. The fishing was awful, not so much as a hit. I usually catch 7-9 pounders every trip there plus a ton of other fish. Not anymore! Just gotta wait until it recovers, I guess. I hate these cycles of death and decay. 

[Ski]

10 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

 

Still topped out and dying. They nuked it into oblivion, so not much of anything left for floating vegetation. The fishing there was horrible. I got there about sundown, stayed until about 4am and then split. The fishing was awful, not so much as a hit. I usually catch 7-9 pounders every trip there plus a ton of other fish. Not anymore! Just gotta wait until it recovers, I guess. I hate these cycles of death and decay. 

And now all that vegetation is turning to muck @ the bottom of a already shallow lake.

[Zcoker]

7 minutes ago, Ski said:

And now all that vegetation is now turning to muck @ the bottom of a already shallow lake.

 

It's not just there. They've been doing it all over the place and, yes, it turns to muck and suffocates everything. They just did a large part of the everglades down south. They're always nuking Lake Okeechobee. Headwaters is not exempt from these practices, either. They just nuked it in June. Let's hope Headwaters doesn't get like Stickmarsh, which a fishless mudhole--compared to what it used to be!   

[Zcoker]

My take on things for those three lakes, Headwaters, Stickmarsh, and Kenansville. Between all the fishing guides with thousands and thousands of shiners and all the nuking from the SJRWMD, it's only a matter of time before those places are choked off into oblivion. 

 

I don't know how many folks know, but as little as 3-4 years ago, the bass fishing in those places was probably the best in the world. By that standard, even today, the fishing at Headwaters is still pretty good. Before the boat ramp opened at Headwaters, you could toss a plastic worm out and catch 8 pounders. It used to be kayaks only. Rolland Martin showed this off well when he made his first YouTube videos from his canoe. One-cast-boom! The fishing was insane. It was that good. Over the years it's gone downhill. All those lakes have gone downhill. I don't even fish Stickmarsh anymore. They recently drained it--yes, drained it--to plant grass or whatever it was, whatever it was that's not even growing! I never thought I'd say this about Kenansville, either, but I'm not planning any trips to that place anytime soon. That lake also used to be a one cast wonder. I've had my share of one cast 9 pounders from it. The paved road to it is nice BUT it has increased traffic ten-fold. That 12 mile dirt road before was almost undrivable and you hardly saw a vehicle on it, and yet, it had a sorta air about it, a dusty vail of unforeseen bumps and grinds, something mysterious and exciting about it, almost like a safari trip! No, I'm not seeing a good forecast in the way things are going for those three lakes, and I sure hope I'm wrong about them because I have such fond fishing memories from all three. 

[Ski]

Me also, several Giants and several 100 fish days.

It really is a double edged sword, Spraying and killing has negative impact as well as letting it choke off the lake. It's a no win.

[TOXIC]

This coming February will be our 3rd year going to headwaters.  Before that, we went to Okeechobee 3 years, and Kissimmee 2 years.  Headwaters outshined all of the others.  It has its own set of challenges but there’s still more trophy bass per acre there than in any of the other lakes we ventured to IMHO. The lodging options are few, the access road sucks and does a fair amount of issues to both boat and truck, the lake has a lot of moving vegetation, shallow areas and ramp follies but it’s still better than the others.  It’s also better than what I fished when I lived right on the St Johns in Jacksonville and my venturing out to Harris, Rodman, Toho and a few unnamed lakes.  

[Mike L]

@Ski @Zcoker

You guys are depressing the H—-L out of me!

I have a special place in my heart fir the Stick as that is where I got my PB. 

 

@TOXIC

You may want a backup if it stays that way in February which will be crazy there anyway. Best of Luck. 
 

The Big O is alive and well at certain areas and specific times.
Just gotta know where to go now almost on a 3 month cycle.
Hasn’t been that way in a long time. 
 

I had a 2 day small tournament there 2 weeks ago and bagged 31.4# for 10. 

It’s wasn’t easy to say the least, but knowledge and constantly moving and changing up was key. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

 

 

[TOXIC]

2 minutes ago, Mike L said:

You may want a backup if it stays that way in February which will be crazy there anyway. Best of Luck. 

We have stayed on Blue Cypress in the past but never fished it.  We are always flexible and close enough to spots to change up if necessary.  This year we snagged a place that backs up to the access road.  I will say it would take a lot to get us to move.  We almost did last year when the ramp got blocked with a hyacinth island.  Luckily a couple of duck boats cleared a path.  

[Mike L]

7 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

We have stayed on Blue Cypress in the past but never fished it.  We are always flexible and close enough to spots to change up if necessary.  This year we snagged a place that backs up to the access road.  I will say it would take a lot to get us to move.  We almost did last year when the ramp got blocked with a hyacinth island.  Luckily a couple of duck boats cleared a path.  

You got in!

You must have reserved that place a while ago

 

 

 

Mike

[TOXIC]

58 minutes ago, Mike L said:

You got in!

You must have reserved that place a while ago

 

 

 

Mike

As soon as they offered it.😉 If it’s good, we’ll probably put in a recurring standard date every year like we do in Michigan.  That’s “our” week.  😂

[Zcoker]

Blue Cypress is a choice place to stay, about the best it gets out in the middle of nowhere waterside! 

 

Yes, the Stick used to be the name of the game back in the day, many PB's from there. Seems like these places all start out wonderful and sooner fall victim to some of the stuff that I mentioned earlier up. Bummer.

 

Headwaters is still going strong. If anything, if I were planning a trip down here for bass fishing, I'd definitely have Headwaters high on my radar. 

 

Lake Okeechobee is all about knowing where to go, when to go, and how to go. It's a BIG lake. Many variables on that lake and knowing how to work them out is what brings in those big bags. Scott Martin sure does know how to get around on that lake lol 

[Mike L]

6 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

Lake Okeechobee is all about knowing where to go, when to go, and how to go. It's a BIG lake. Many variable on that lake and knowing how to work them out is what brings in those big bags. Scott Martin sure does know how to get around on that lake lol 

It’s been that way for years. 
People complain about it because they don’t understand it.
I keep defending it because on no other lake is it more important.

Gotta know your water 

 

 

Mike

[Zcoker]

I think it's important to know (for those who don't know) is that Headwaters Lake is not natural. It was DESIGNED for trophy bass. Yes, it was built, curved, molded, and formed into a trophy bass fishing mecca. It now leads the FWC TrophyCatch program, beating the likes of Orange Lake, as the best trophy bass fishery in the state. They--the FWC along with an army of biologist--spent years developing it and then stocked it with over a million bass. A lotta time, money, and research went into making it what it is today. Our hope is that it stays that way, and not go in the direction of some of these other lakes here in the state. Recently, it was closed for half the month of June, closed for repairs along with "vegetation" control. I got that directly from the St. Johns Water Management District. Many reported on the helicopters nuking it. That was a first. From all accounts, it's recovering pretty well. 

 

 

 

15 minutes ago, Mike L said:

It’s been that way for years. 
People complain about it because they don’t understand it.
I keep defending it because on no other lake is it more important.

Gotta know your water 

 

 

Mike

 

Yep, they don't know things, like how even the wind can drastically dictate on where to go to be successful there. They go there, expecting this or that and then leave with a bad taste in their mouth. If only they knew! 

[Mike L]

 

59 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

 

Yep, they don't know things, like how even the wind can drastically dictate on where to go to be successful there. They go there, expecting this or that and then leave with a bad taste in their mouth. If only they knew! 

Exactly Right!

Thats why I keep defending it 
 

Yes, there are many trophy lakes in this country, especially down here. 

But there is only one Okeechobee. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[WRB]

When constructed the lakes you would have thought a aeration system would been part of planning.

Tom

[crypt]

4 hours ago, Mike L said:

It’s been that way for years. 
People complain about it because they don’t understand it.
I keep defending it because on no other lake is it more important.

Gotta know your water 

 

 

Mike

I also will defend Okeechobee till I die. I live 20 minutes from Headwaters and would rather go to the Big O.

[TOXIC]

Difference being, those of us who don’t have years of experience on Okeechobee can go to Headwaters, study a map, account for the weather and be pretty sure you  can catch good numbers of fish with a good probability of getting a trophy.  It can be as simple as hiring a guide and drowning shiners for those who have little fishing prowess or you can be like us, fairly experienced with good skills and electronics and can usually put together good bags of fish on artificials.  First fish is Headwaters, second is Okeechobee. 

[Zcoker]

14 hours ago, WRB said:

When constructed the lakes you would have thought a aeration system would been part of planning.

Tom

 

Here in south Florida we have an extensive array of canal systems regulated by pump stations, weirs, and spillways. Some of these pump stations can be the size of a 5 story building. Water is controlled or channeled according to storm run-off, water levels, etc. An example of this is the recent draining of the Stickmarsh, some 6,500 acres, which they drained for vegetation restoration. The point here is that they have complete and total control of the water in all of these areas. If these areas get too low, they fill them up, too high, they drain them. They can do whatever they want to do. Regardless, water is usually flowing (in some form or another) through most all of them. 

[Zcoker]

Headwaters Lake as it was being carved out. This was called the "enhanced area". Enhanced meaning enhanced to grow trophy bass! 

 

 

 

 

 

Opening Day, long line!  

 

[WRB]

Fully understand the channelization of Florida waterways. Aeration is different from pumping water to flow to off set decaying aquatic vegetation killed from spraying weed killing pesticides. 
If you are happy with aeration/waterflow system that is all that matters.

Watched several MLF events held at Head Waters you are fortunate to have trophy bass management.

Tom