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Lake Walk in Water Fishing
In Central Florida there's a lake called Lake Weohyakapka, commonly known as Lake Walk-in-Water. This lake spans 7,528-acre and is located south of Tiger Lake and west of Lake Kissimmee, 10 miles east of Lake Wales off Walk-in-the-Water Road in Polk County. Predominant vegetation is cattail, bulrush (buggy whips), Kissimmee grass, and use to be hydrilla. Tiger Creek flows in from the southwest and Weohyakapka Creek flows from the north end of the lake. Maximum depth is 12 around feet. Nationally known for trophy large-mouth bass fishing, Lake Walk-in-Water provides both large numbers and trophy size bass fishing. Drifting live shiners around offshore ledges is the most consistent technique, but many bass are caught on artificial as well, it's particularly good topwater lure lake. There is a county boat ramp on the west shore at the end of Boat Landing Road, see the map below.
Don't be surprised if you have not heard of this lake, you will start hearing more about Lake Weohyakapka (A.K.A. Lake Walk-In-Water), Polk County's largest body of water and one of their "best kept fishing secrets". While conversation amongst anglers frequently center on lakes like Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Toho and the Everglades, Lake Walk-In-Water has quietly and consistently churned out magnificent catches of largemouth bass.
On a clear day when the surface is smooth, a person can clearly see the lake's bottom structure, even without polarized sunglasses. Spring fed, Lake Walk-In-Water receives few pollutants from urbanized or agricultural runoffs because of a scarcity of housing developments and an absence of husbandry operations along its shores. Vegetation consists of 15 to 20 percent emergent or submerged hydrilla of Aquatic Plant Management, plus numerous stands of beneficial bulrush, shrimp and eel grass.
Feeding into the Kissimmee chain via Weohyakapka Creek and Lake Rosalie, Walk-In-Water's major feeder stream is Tiger Creek located at the lake's southeast corner. Flippers relish the dense, offshore, isolated reed patches, while those working offshore beds near the lake's center often enjoy spectacular success with buzzbaits, topwater plugs, spinnerbaits, lipped diving lures and eight to ten-inch plastic worms rigged Texas or Carolina style.
Lake Walk-in-the-Water use to be about 70 to 80 percent covered with hydrilla, and there has been rumors that the State is not going to spray. Well, they did not have to, the hurricanes took care of that for us. The talk from the guides is that the hydrilla will come back over time, which is the best way for it to naturally to happen. The lake has been producing good numbers of fish for years now, few good size fish are being caught. The fishing pressure on Walk in Water is still down compared to it's other Central Florida lakes, but will continue to pickup as the fishing continues to get more popular. We continue to guide this lake and enjoy good catches of fish on a few consistent time manner. As always the best bait on Lake Walk-in-the-Water is the wild shiner. We like to use the Devil’s Horse, and the Chug Bug, both baits in Black/Chrome on this lake.
If fishing on your own, here's a few of our favorite spots. The buggy whip islands, not cattails. They sit in between the cattail weedlines in most places on the lake. Check for the deepest water around the buggy whips, locate anywhere from 4-6 ft on the outside edge are good locations. Pre-spawn and spawning time is the best time to check these locations. Try worms, trick worms or lizards on the outside edge, we prefer 1/8-1/4 ounce weight. A rattletrap is a good way to cover water along the outside if you prefer something faster.
Also check the Kissimmee grass and docks, great places for resident fish. Especially the docks, look for 3-4 ft of water. A great place to flip and/or pitch if you like, we favor 1/4-3/8 ounce with a jig, worm or craw.
The open water is best for schooling fish, this could happen any time of the year in this lake. Typical open water fishing, use rattletrap, super fluck and crank baits. If no schoolers are present, try Carolina rig fishing on the ledges.
Good Luck and good fishing, if you need a fishing guide give us a call!
View Lake Walk in Water in a larger map
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