Shore Fishing

Wellen Park floating kayak launch.

A few days ago, we finally got around to checking out Wellen Park, located west of River Road, off US 41. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found. After years of driving around and through the construction on US 41 we turned into the main entrance and found “downtown” Wellen Park. 

Here we wandered around a centrally located shopping district with boutique stores mixed with some popular restaurants and snack shacks located on the northeast end of the large lake. After lunch we walked along the shore and saw a multitude of small bluegill and a few larger bass. 

Checking with the kayak and bike rental we learned that this lake is only a few years old but was recently stocked with 35,000 lbs. of gamefish including bluegill and bass, with some bass approaching 5 lbs. We found a floating kayak launch dock which we like to avoid but this one was larger and oriented correctly. This design eliminates the need for switchback turns with loaded kayaks and looked doable. We intend to return soon to try it out. The lake and facilities are open to the public. 

Kim Berry with a bass she caught in the lake at Wellen Park.

 

Since we were shore bound that day, we grabbed our spinning rods, and rigged with plastic worms for a mid-day trip, we set off walking around the lake. This is a big lake and we only got about ¼ of the way around before we ran out of time. Nevertheless, we managed to catch a half dozen bass each, mostly smaller fish that were mixed in with some larger 3 lb. specimens.

Though being dug primarily for fill to build up the developed part of the property, the folks that designed this lake were tuned into fish habitat. The many coves and irregular shape guarantee protected shoreline no matter which direction the wind blows. The presence of vegetation and rock emplacements promote the baitfish population which will help the bass numbers and size to grow quickly. Travis, the guy in charge of renting kayaks and bikes also mentioned that threadfin shad were also stocked for bass forage. We did see a few armored catfish in the shallows too. 

The water here is clear with a sandy bottom and the bass we caught were light colored and not the dark colored fish we expect to catch in tannin-stained waters. There is quite a bit of algae growing on the bottom in the shallow areas which makes weedless riggings essential. This day we were fishing in bright sunlight in clear water, so we opted for green “watermelon red” trick worms with our favorite 1/32^nd ounce bullet weights. We also scaled back to 15 lb. fluorocarbon leader to be stealthy. 

On our next visit we’re taking our kayaks to explore more of this big lake. The area we fished from shore, near the downtown area, is surely the most impacted by recreational anglers, so we are anxious to try spots further away from the crowd. It would make a great spot to spend the day kayak fishing with a lunch break at one of the many Wellen Park eateries. We plan to tie up our kayaks to the launch dock and walk just a few steps for a cold beverage and sandwich to enjoy under one of the big shade trees nearby. 

We’ll update this destination when we have more information on the kayak accessible fishing opportunities we find. Until then, give this spot a try. It could be one of the more productive and civilized spots to kayak and shore fish in this area.