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Headwaters Lake (Fellsmere Reservoir)

Indian River County, Florida Reservoir Connected Water
10,000 acres1 rampFree ramp available
2026 recurring ramp closures (SJRWMD, announced Feb 2, 2026): the Headwaters Boat Ramp AND its kayak launch close Monday–Thursday of the first full week of each month through September 2026, excluding federal holidays, for habitat management and restoration work, water-quality monitoring and facility maintenance. Remaining 2026 dates: Aug 3–6 and Sept 8–10. The western levee trails stay open for hiking and bank fishing; the District's designated boat alternatives — Stick Marsh (Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area) and the C-54 Boat Ramp — are different water. Nothing has been published about plans after September 2026. — check the current advisory source for updates.
Standing DOH fish-consumption advisory (mercury) for 'Fellsmere WMA,' Indian River County: largemouth bass one meal per week for women of childbearing age and young children (two per week for everyone else); bluegill and redear sunfish two meals per week — largely academic for the bass, since every black bass must be released immediately anyway (DOH 'Your Guide to Eating Fish Caught in Florida,' 2021v2 edition). — check the current advisory source for updates.
Headwaters Lake (Fellsmere Reservoir) Access Map 1 ramp
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Boat Ramps on Headwaters Lake (Fellsmere Reservoir)
Headwaters Boat Ramp
St. Johns River Water Management District · Concrete ramp, 2 lanes, 36 trailer spots
Open Motorboat Kayak Free
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Good to Know
Food & Drink
Nothing on site — no gas, food or bait. Stick Marsh Bait & Tackle in Fellsmere town is the cluster's traditional stop and FWC's listed daily-conditions line for the neighborhood: (772) 571-9855.
Bait & Tackle
Stick Marsh Bait & Tackle, Fellsmere (772) 571-9855 — stock up before the gravel; wild shiners are the local currency here (reported at $27 a dozen in late 2025).
Fish Species
Largemouth Bass Bluegill Redear Sunfish Black Crappie
Connected Waterways

Headwaters Lake is the water inside SJRWMD's Fellsmere Water Management Area — 10,036 acres of flooded Fellsmere Farms fields in Indian River County, just east of Stick Marsh — Upper St. Johns River Basin Project water, built to spare the Indian River Lagoon. FWC calls it all Fellsmere Reservoir: Headwaters proper is the northern half; a southwest-corner navigation channel is the only way into Egan Lake, the southern lobe. No navigable connection leaves the property — every trip is a tow.

Seasonal Conditions

Winter into spring is the trophy window — FWC's own forecast tactics for the big-fish quarter are a live golden shiner drifted under a float, or chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and jigs in white and gold worked through the grass. Summer fishing turns on the vegetation: thousands of acres of hydrilla, cattail and spatterdock over a bowl that averages 6 feet with holes past 30, so finding clean lanes is half the job. From May through September 2026 the calendar matters as much as the season — the ramp and kayak launch close Monday–Thursday of each month's first full week (Aug 3–6 and Sept 8–10 remain). One dated caution: anglers reported algae blooms on the north end in November 2025 (anecdotal, alongside a stubborn artificial bite that the shiner crowd was beating badly). Property gates run one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset year-round.

Local Watercraft Rules

Plain English Summary

Black bassFWC special regulation, verbatim: 'Fellsmere Water Management Area (commonly known as Headwaters Lake and Egan Lake), Indian River County: Black bass must be released immediately. Circle hooks required when fishing with natural bait greater than 3" in length.' The circle-hook clause is unique in this cluster — Stick Marsh and Kenansville Lake are release-only without it.
SpeedBoat speed shall not exceed 25 mph anywhere on the reservoir; idle speed/no wake in the boat basin and canals (FWC/SJRWMD).
AirboatsProhibited property-wide — recreational and commercial. (Next door at Stick Marsh they're allowed, with a dedicated ramp; don't carry one lake's rules to the other.)
HoursThe property — ramp included — operates one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset, daily (SJRWMD).
2026 ramp closuresRamp and kayak launch closed Monday–Thursday of the first full week of each month through September 2026 (Aug 3–6, Sept 8–10 remaining), excluding federal holidays, for restoration and maintenance work. Stick Marsh and the C-54 Boat Ramp are the designated alternatives — both different water.
HuntingNo hunting on the water or levees outside the Fellsmere Area 1 PSGHA boundaries (SJRWMD). The broader Upper St. Johns River Marsh WMA hunt seasons run on the neighboring Blue Cypress and Three Forks conservation areas — expect fall hunting activity in the marshes around this cluster.
Panfish & crappieStatewide limits apply to bluegill, redear and black crappie; heed the DOH consumption guidance (two meals per week).
Full legal textOfficial boating regulations →
Frequently Asked Questions
Headwaters Lake, Fellsmere Reservoir, Egan Lake — which is it?
All one property, three names. FWC's fishing page is titled 'Fellsmere' and describes 'Fellsmere Reservoir, also known as Headwaters Lake or Lake Egan'; the landowner, SJRWMD, calls the property the Fellsmere Water Management Area and splits the water into Headwaters Lake (the northern half, where the ramp is) and Egan Lake (the southern lobe, reachable only by a navigation channel at Headwaters' southwest corner). Anglers, guides and the District's own facility name all say Headwaters; these pages do too. You'll also see 'Eagan' in one SJRWMD line; same lake, loose spelling.
Is Headwaters Lake the same as Stick Marsh?
No — and people conflate them constantly, right down to articles calling the Fellsmere WMA 'locally known as Stick Marsh.' They are two separate reservoirs on the same dirt road: Stick Marsh/Farm 13 is the older 1987 impoundment with the Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area ramp; Headwaters is the newer, roughly 10,000-acre lake with its own ramp about 2 miles east, four miles west of Babcock Street. Different rules too: airboats run Stick Marsh but are banned here, and Headwaters adds a 25-mph cap and a circle-hook rule. Both release every bass.
Why is the boat ramp closed some weekdays in 2026?
SJRWMD announced (Feb 2, 2026) recurring closures of the Headwaters Boat Ramp and its kayak launch Monday–Thursday of the first full week of each month, May through September 2026, excluding federal holidays — for 'essential habitat management and restoration work, water quality monitoring and facility maintenance.' As of July 2026 the remaining dates are Aug 3–6 and Sept 8–10 (September runs Tuesday–Thursday because of Labor Day). The western levee trails stay open for bank fishing, and the District points boaters to Stick Marsh and the C-54 Boat Ramp — both different water. What happens after September hasn't been published; check the District's announcements page before a first-week trip.
Can you keep bass at Headwaters?
No. The FWC special regulation reads: 'Black bass must be released immediately. Circle hooks required when fishing with natural bait greater than 3" in length.' Both rules were approved in May 2022 under FWC's Florida Trophy Bass Project — the program managing select waters for trophy production — and the circle-hook requirement matters here because so much of the fishery runs on live golden shiners. Panfish and crappie may be kept under statewide limits.
Is the trophy fishing really that good?
The ledger says yes. As of July 2026 the FWC page tallies 453 Lunker Club (8–9.9 lb), 104 Trophy Club (10–12.9 lb) and 3 Hall of Fame (13+ lb) TrophyCatch entries — roughly triple famous Stick Marsh next door. In FWC's 2023 'Battle of the Lakes,' Fellsmere beat Orange Lake with 85 TrophyCatch bass totaling 759 pounds 3 ounces — an 8.93-pound average. Bassmaster has ranked it a Southeastern top-10 lake three straight years, though the arc is cooling: #6 in 2024 and 2025 (a 13-3 led that year), #10 in 2026, with 37 TrophyCatch submissions in the first four months of 2026 versus 78 over the same stretch of 2025 — still including four 10-pounders, the biggest a 10-8 on March 4.
Are airboats allowed, and how fast can you run?
No airboats — prohibited property-wide — and 25 mph is the ceiling everywhere on the reservoir, with idle speed in the boat basin and canals. That's the opposite of Stick Marsh next door, where airboats have their own ramp. The cap fits the water: this is an engineered bottom full of ditches, rock piles and islands, averaging 6 feet.
Where can you launch a kayak?
Two doors. The main Headwaters Boat Ramp has its own kayak launch (which closes with the ramp on 2026 closure days). And at the northwest corner there's a primitive, dirt-surface levee launch (FWC inventory IR00005AA) reached from the Stick Marsh lot — expect to hand-carry your boat roughly 200 feet along a grass levee; no vehicle access to the water there. FWC lists it as its own access point with parking 2 miles away at Stick Marsh/Farm 13.
What's the deal with the road?
About four miles of unpaved Fellsmere Grade west from Babcock Street — and anglers' number-one complaint. Forum consensus (anecdotal but universal): washboard gravel that shakes electronics loose and dusts everything, smoothest before dawn, worst in afternoon heat; run it slow and strap things down. Paving has been talked about for years; as of July 2026 it's still dirt.
Scout's Notes
Lake Vibe & Fishing Intel

Headwaters Lake was designed to be a trophy bass lake. When the St. Johns River Water Management District flooded the old Fellsmere Farms fields for stormwater storage and Indian River Lagoon relief, FWC got to the property before the water did: starting around 2010, crews sculpted the dry basin with ditches, dredge holes, rock piles and winding channels, and planted 15,000-plus bald cypress and red maples on the islands. Stocking figures near 1.8 million fish circulate among anglers — widely repeated, never officially published. The result: 10,000 acres (FWC's figure) averaging 6 feet with holes past 30, carpeted in hydrilla, cattail and spatterdock over the engineered structure.

In May 2022 FWC made the intent official: every black bass released immediately, circle hooks required with natural bait over 3 inches. The ledger since: 453 Lunker Club, 104 Trophy Club and 3 Hall of Fame TrophyCatch entries as of July 2026 — roughly triple famous Stick Marsh next door. On the water it's 25 mph max, idle in the canals, no airboats, gates an hour either side of the sun. Check the closure calendar before you hook up: the ramp and kayak launch are shut Monday-Thursday of each month's first full week through September 2026 (Aug 3-6 and Sept 8-10 remain). Take the gravel miles off Babcock slow and fish the structure nobody can see — ditch edges, rock piles, holes off the hydrilla walls — and when the artificial bite goes stubborn, drift a live golden shiner under a float — on a circle hook, because that's the law. Every bass goes back; bring a camera fit for a 10-pounder.

Sources: FWC Fellsmere Reservoir site page & special regulations (fetched 2026-07-27), FWC boat-ramp inventory rows IR00006AA & IR00005AA, SJRWMD Fellsmere WMA page, Streamlines ramp-opening & 'Reel in the fun' features, SJRWMD Feb/Jun 2026 closure notices, FWC May 2022 Trophy Bass Project release & Nov 2023 Battle of the Lakes release, Bassmaster Best Bass Lakes 2024–26, DOH fish-consumption guide (2021v2), Friends of Reservoirs & Coastal Angler habitat reporting; stocking figures and road/shiner color from angler forums (anecdotal).

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