# Fishing near Disney World



## Young Buck (Jul 26, 2001)

We will be vacationing in Disney World in July. I am looking for a good fishing spot to go to while the family asleep in the morning. I am looking to go around 4-5AM. Anyone know some good spots? Fresh or salt is fine with me as long as it close to the resort.

Young Buck


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## Kozlow (Oct 25, 2002)

I think they have quite a few options for you right at the resort if your staying there?
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/moreMagic/otherRecDetail?id=OtherRecFishingDetailPage&bhcp=1

Here is a link that will tell you were freshwater fishing piers are:

http://www.floridaconservation.org/fishing/piers/index.html#fp-map

Fishing around Disney World


Orlando bass lakes
By Herb Allen
Many of our site visitors plan Florida vacations including a pit stop at Walt Disney World. And for visiting bass fishing enthusiasts there are five superb bass lakes within easy driving distance of the Magic Kingdom.


It's doubtful we'll find such a relatively small vicinage doing so many big things anywhere in the nation to provide a quality fishing experience for residents and visitors than in the Orlando area. 

In addition to already having successful Urban Pond and Fish Orlando! programs in place, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), in partnership with the City of Ocoee and Orange County, recently unveiled its "Fab Five," a program focused on producing quality fishing for both beginner and experienced anglers. 

According to FWC Biologist and Fish Orlando Coordinator Jim Sweatman, one of the main goals of the Fab Five initiative will be to expand public fishing interest in five area lakes and to manage them to generate piscatorial excellence for such users as tourists, youngsters and families. 

As time goes on, Sweatman anticipates adding more lakes to the overall plan. But, for now, the selected lakes, management aims and proposed activities include: 

Stark Lake, a 202-acre water body located in Ocoee, will be designed to provide a balanced bass and bluegill fishery for use as a community angling site. Planned work on Stark includes removal of nuisance aquatic vegetation and replanting with beneficial native plants. There'll be a designated boat landing area, plus no wake zones to protect the transplanted vegetation. A fishing pier or platform with nearby fish feeders and rock will be constructed and, possibly, chubsuckers will be stocked to provide large bait fish for a growing bass population. 
** 
Turkey Lake (339 acres) off International Drive will provide locals and tourists with an opportunity to catch quality bass and crappie after nuisance shoreline vegetation is replaced with desirable plants to improve habitat and bank access. Brush and rock attractors will be placed to concentrate fish, while an additional pier with handicap access and nearby feeders will be constructed. Rental boats will be available on a limited basis to compensate for a lack of a public launching ramp. A camping area and primitive cabin construction is in the planning stages. 
** 
Kirkman Pond (10 acres), a small water body also convenient for the International Drive tourist community, will be renovated to provide a quality hybrid bluegill and largemouth bass fishery. Area hotels and motels will work with the Fab 5 program by lending rods and reels to guests. Sweatman said that feeders, an aeration system and a covered pier will be installed. 
** 
Cane-Marsha Park includes three small lakes including Lupine (7 acres), Shadow Bay (5 acres) and Woodland (3 acres), and will be designed to offer a variety of quality angling opportunities. In Lupine Lake, large catfish will be planted and fish feeders built to sustain growth. A covered pier will be constructed, an aeration system installed, and shoreline vegetation will be treated to provide better bank access. Shadow Bay activities will include installing a fishing pier, an aeration system, fish feeders and rocks to concentrate stocked bass and bluegill populations. Also planned is the removal of muck areas and a revegetation program with desirable aquatic plants and eelgrass. Due to poor water quality existing in Woodland Pond, the Commission will first renovate the water body before restocking it with fish. 
** 
Clear Lake (313 acres) will provide a quality hybrid striped bass fishery for area residents. Its current grass carp population will be removed and revegetation programs will soon begin. Other immediate plans call for placement of a fishing pier and fish feeders, and investigating the potential of attracting fish to fishermen by using artificial water flow. 

NATURAL PLAYGROUND

Back in the 1960s when the Magic Kingdom was under construction, more than 150,000 bass and bluegill were stocked in Bay Lake -- a natural water body -- and in the adjacent Seven Seas Lagoon, which was dug to supply fill to build the park. There were no organized fishing tours until 1977, so the fingerlings had plenty of time to grow and spawn without disturbance. No more stocking was done. According to Jeff Holland, a biologist with the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the lakes are maintained in as pristine condition as possible.

''The engineers had a lot of forethought,'' Holland said. ``They drained everything away from the lake. They designed everything to keep storm water and nutrients out.''

The park also has opened lakes around Downtown Disney and EPCOT Center for fishing tours.

Except for the occasional unauthorized guerrilla angler, fishing is conducted strictly on guided pontoon boats for catch-and-release only. Besides largemouth bass and bluegill, the lakes hold sunfish, red-ear sunfish, catfish, Seminole killifish, gar, mudfish, black crappie, and golden shiners.

The largest bass caught at Disney weighed 14 pounds, six ounces. Holland said the largest he encountered while performing fish surveys weighed 11-4. He said catch rates since 1992 average two bass per hour -- much higher than the average public lake in Florida.

''This is a natural playground,'' Holland said.


Hope this helps Young Buck . Good Luck to Ya

A Nonresident license will currently cost you approximately $16.50, valid for 7-days from the date of issue. Licenses can be purchased at one of the area's fishing facilities or at one of the local department stores e.g. the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart.


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## Young Buck (Jul 26, 2001)

*Many Thanks from the city of DC*

We'll be seeing you soon!!!!!!!!


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## Orange (Mar 12, 2003)

The Disney property has a few "guide-only" lakes that are supposed to be quite awesome. They can cater to your whole family on a pontoon boat or just you for an early morning bass trip. I'm sure you could find the information online somewhere.

edited:
Hah, after posting my response I looked up Kozlow's link and that's exactly what I was talking about. Good luck!


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## Kozlow (Oct 25, 2002)

GENERAL FORECAST
FISH ORLANDO! 
QUARTERLY FISHING FORECAST
JULY-SEPTEMEBER 2004

http://floridafisheries.com/forecast/orlando.html


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