Site near fishing spot

[MALE*RN*777]

We are planning a 4 family camping trip to Fort Wilderness in October and my brother in law asked if we could get sites near the water so he could fish in the morning. Any ideas? Do these sites have more bugs due to the water or alligator issue? Are there boats in the water? It will be our first time camping there. Thanks...

 

[Shan-man]

The only sites that actually are waterfront are some of the new sites in the 600 loop, which is a premium loop. They are the even numbered sites from 604 to 612. I would not get my hopes up too much that such a request might be honored... I mean it is 5 sites out of 430 Premiums! It doesn't hurt to request it, just don't EXPECT it. There are lots of places around the Fort to fish and you will likely be a short walk regardless of where you are assigned, so unless you really need to fish from your site, I wouldn't sweat it!

 

[njcamper95]

I agree the canals do have fish also or depending on your actual site there is a pond by the campfire/singalong /canoe rental area along with one by the dog park area and you can fish from shore on the big lake (not from the docks )so as you can see there will be several choices to pick from depending on where your site is and how much you want to walk or ride if you get a cart you can also see where im talking about on one of the google earth maps or one of the maps of the sites good luck

 

[becky1960]

Sites 100-300 are just a short walk to Bay Lake and a canal behind 300 loop. be sure and request that sites for all be kept together if possible, you might get lucky.

 

[Shan-man]

Just wanted to add that you might want be careful using the official Fort maps to pick a site near a canal... Disney shows every canal as though it were straight out of "A River Runs Through It" when in real life a lot of them are mostly dry ditches! I know the canal behind 1500, 1800 and 1900 is a popular one to fish, but am unsure about the others. I'm sure Frank will be along soon to tell most of the other good spots (though I'm sure he'll keep some to himself!). 600 and 1400 are very close to the Meadows pond. 300 has a fishable canal behind, and 100, 200, 300, 400 & 700 are all a short walk from the marina and lake. That's about all I have.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

FISHING !!

Just remember,, it's 'catch and release" only.
You really wouldn't want to eat those fish anyways.

 

[John I Haggerty]

How good is the fishing at FW in September? What can someexpect to catch? How many?

 

[Born 2 Fish]

There are a coupla things to remember bout the Fort fishing in Sept....It's Florida so it's still pretty warm temps in Sept.,,Second,,it's called fishing , not catching.

In general we do fair fishing the Fort. That being said,,I have never been skunked at the Fort. However, some dayz er slow, some dayz er great.
You can expect to catch bream/sunfish,,bass, catfish,,the lake does have a few other type swimmers in it.

We have pulled a pounder and a 9 pounder outta the lake, that was however onna "guided fishing excursion" which is a whole nother ball game, a lotta fun, and cost a few $$

 

[big kahuna1]

The 1600 loop has several sites on a fairly big canal.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

The fort is the only place Ive ever been able to catch a bass, living in Louisiana...thats a sad statement to be forced to make.But I am a fisherman to the core....a fisherman.....NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY CATCHES FISH!!!! So if "I" can catch a couple of bass at the Fort...ANYONE CAN!!!!!!




give the bridges over the canals behind the 300 loop a little of your time.

 

[FlaFortCampster]

I believe the 1800 and 1900 loops have a couple of sites that backup to the canal also or are at least very close to the canal. Fishing early is important though as there is very little if any tree cover. So when the sun starts getting higher, the fishing gets tougher on the canal. (Exception is down by Bay Lake where the canal and lake meet). You use to be able to walk the canal all the way to Bay Lake, but they took the bridges crossing the canals out.

You could rent a canoe, which lets you explore some of the feeder canals which have lots of tree cover and hiding spots. I know past the 1900 loop the canal opened into a large area, but again, no tree cover. Bream and sunfish are plentiful, bass occasional and a relaxing experience always.

Good luck!!!!!!

 

[Shan-man]

I thought I'd add on to what FlaFortCampster said. As she mentioned, sites 1809, 1812 & 1813 back up to the canal, as do 1617, 1618, & 1619. Also, 1312, 1314, 1316 and 1321 are adjacent to the canal through the Meadows. 301, 302, 305 and 306 back up near the pond at the dog park and 314, 317, 318, 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, 329 and 331 are near the large canal. There are many sites along the small canal that runs between 1400, 500 and 600, but I'm unsure if that is much of a canal to fish. Likewise, the canal between 1000, 1100, 2000 and 2100 is generally more of a ditch than a fishable canal, IIRC. Though with all the rain recently, much of the Fort may be fishable right now!

 

[stacktester]

If you go out the 300 loop there's a service road about 1/2 way thru the loop that goes out to a canal that comes off Bay Lake. It's pretty deep there and I've landed some nice bass and a couple croppy's. Not sure what some others refer to them as lol. I've also snuck down to the throat of that ditch to fish the lake. There's some nice bass but make sure you're careful for the grass as you will get caught up in it. There's a bait called a rooster tail at walmart. Comes in a few diff sizes and colors. Get the small white one. It has worked well for me.