Ward Lake

Evers Lake FL

Evers Lake or Ward Lake is located outside of Bradenton, Florida, in Manatee County. Ward Lake, also known as Bill Evers Reservoir is located along the west coast of Florida. A dam placed across the Braden River near Bradenton and southwest of Leesburg forms this 400-acre lake. Both the lake and upper river provide excellent angling for largemouth and sunshine bass, crappie, and bream. There is limited bank fishing. Boats can be rented or launched at a private fish camp located south of SR 70.

Closest Town: Bradenton
Lake Size: 400 Acres
Lake Notes: Specializing in Largemouth Bass and Black Crappie. Bream, Bluegill, and Sunshine Bass were also caught.

Ever’s Lake Fishing

Evers lake bass fishing the Branden River, excellent bass and bream fishing With exceedingly hot water temperatures, any tips to help catch fish can be the difference between a skunked day or an icebox full of fillets. Here is one for freshwater fishing: Capt. Doc Lee, a freshwater fly-fishing guide on the lake by Jiggs Landing, said when fishing a freshwater lake or river, and the water is still, look for bubbles coming off the bottom.

“That spot means there’s debris or some sort of structure giving off gas at the bottom,” Lee said. “Normally, fish are holding on that structure like bluegill, shellcracker, speckled perch, or catfish.” He recommends fishing early morning or late afternoon, as well as shady spots in the morning, such as bridges, trees, or shrubbery. When the sun comes up, look for a shady spot in the water.

Fish tend to migrate into those cooler areas. “Or go deeper and fish shallow in the morning, but as the sun comes up, go to deeper water,” Lee said, “and fish slowly with small baits.” Local public freshwater lakes include Lake Evers at Linger Lodge and Braden River Road, and Lake Manatee in Lake Manatee State Park off State Road 64 in eastern Manatee County.

Things to Know

West winds last prevented anglers from tarpon fishing, so Evers Lake is a go-ahead. Anglers jump back and forth between boats. You also caught and released trout and bluefish in Sarasota Bay.”Anglers fishing the coastal gulf from boats even enjoy going to Evers Lake to fish with flies. However, there are still plenty of large schools of bass and smaller schools of panfish that can be caught on a fly.
In Evers Lake, deep grass flats should also be a good option for both deep and shallow fishing.

We fished Evers Lake many times, and while many lakes shut down by 10 am, Evers Lake seems to have a longer feeding cycle than most. You can start upriver, where some would say it’s good luck, but after a couple of hours of fishing, you can move back south.
Heading back out of the river and into the lake is a great place to go flipping if you like that, cranked traps along the edges, and of course, pitching jigs into any grass you can find.

Evers Lake is very similar to the lakes you would find in Stockton Ca.

Evers Lake Map