Tohopekaliga Guide

WHERE:

Located in central Florida, Lake Tohopekaliga is the largest lake in Osceola County, a 32-minute drive from Orlando International Airport, 1.5 hours from Tampa International.

Lake Tohopekaliga (Lake Toho) is the primary inflow of the Shingle Creek and spans 42 miles in circumference and is 4 miles long. It is bordered on the northern shore by Kissimmee, on the eastern shore by Kissimmee Park and South Port on the southern shore.

WHAT:

Like most Florida lakes, Lake Tohopekaliga consists of shallow grass flats, natural bullrush, maidencane and hydrilla. The St. Cloud Canal, which comes from East Lake Tohopekaliga, is the main water source feed.

HOW:

Anglers targeting trophy largemouth bass may want to concentrate their time around the mouth of Shingle Creek, enhanced shorelines east and west of South Port Park, Lanier Point, Goblets Cove and Brown’s Point. Both live and artificial baits are effective. Golden shiners are the live bait of choice for most anglers, although spinnerbaits (white, white/chartreuse or yellow-skirted), lip-less crank baits and plastic worms will account for fair share of catches. The lake’s north shore has a lot of tall grasses that often conceal large bass populations ready to bite.

Other targeted fish species found here include black crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish and chain pickerel. Live bait (crickets and red wigglers) will be the bait of choice for many bluegill anglers, but small artificial rigs will also be successful.

Check out the Baitstick Box – Florida to get all the basics needed for a day on the water at Lake Toho. Experienced anglers and professional guides have weighed in on the gear inside the Baitstick Box. Seasoned anglers can resupply with essentials and new anglers can fish a lake right out of the box.

All fishing is local and Baitstick is committed to bringing you products to make your next fishing trip the best trip.

WHEN:

While winter is widely known as the best time to catch trophy bass, it is the summer when nearly all the record-sized bass are caught. Most of the bass population in Lake Tohopekaliga like to spawn in February and March before moving away from shallow areas and into the Kissimmee grass or hydrilla through the lake. Excellent summer fishing spots include Big Grassy, Brown’s Point and Lanier Point.

If the target is black crappie, February is the best time on Canoe Creek in Lake Cypree or Southport Canal.

Typically, from May to June, bluegill, redear sunfish and chair pickerel are active. Anglers targeting these fish should try to schedule time on the water around the new and complete moon phases and concentrate their efforts in areas with sandy bottoms associated with vegetation, including Brown’s Point and North Steer Beach.

To keep up to date on Baitstick’s news and information for Lake Toho and other top Florida fisheries sign up for the Baitstick newsletter.