Hardee County Lakes Park
Hardee County
Located off Ollie Roberts Road in Fort Green, Hardee County Lakes Park is a 1,200-acre park owned and operated by Hardee County. The park has a number of amenities including hiking, biking, and horse trails, campsites, picnic pavilions, a playground, and a small camp store. Emergent and submerged vegetation is plentiful in all of the lakes, including spike rush and bullrush that was planted by FWC to improve habitat.
The lakes in the park are reclaimed phosphate pits and offer a wide variety of angling opportunities. All four lakes have concrete boat ramps and shore access, though Hardee and Deer Lakes are the most accessible for bank fishing. Depths and contours vary by lake, with most reaching up to 20 foot. Fish attractors are present in Hardee, Deer, and Gator Lakes and are marked with buoys. The fish attractors on Hardee and Deer lakes can be accessed from the fishing piers, while the attractors on Gator Lake can be accessed by boat.
The catfish bite at Hardee County should be heating up! While all four lakes on property offer good catfishing, Gator and Firefly lakes have the highest numbers. Baits like worms, hot dogs, chicken liver, and sink baits can be effective. Try fishing near the bottom, but using a bobber can also prove to be effective. Bass fishing can start to get challenging this time of year. Target shallow vegetation and structure early in the morning. As the day warms up, try using a deep diving crankbait or bottom jig to target fish that are in deeper water. The fish attractors located on Hardee, Deer, and Gator lakes are good places to try before finding other deep-water structures. All four lakes offer great opportunities to catch both bluegill and redear (shellcracker) sunfish. A worm or small spinner bait cast near vegetation should produce some bites. Tight lines!
Fish graphics by Duane Raver, Jr.
More species information is available for:
Largemouth bass, Bluegill, Redear sunfish, Sunshine bass, Channel catfish, Black crappie
TrophyCatch Tracker
TrophyCatch is FWC's citizen-science program that rewards anglers for documenting and releasing trophy bass 8 pounds or larger. The following TrophyCatch bass have been submitted from Hardee County Lakes Park:
Lunker Club (8 – 9.9 pounds): 1