Kissimmee Lakefront Park Boat Ramp

When Bassmaster, MLF, or a hundred-boat local derby comes to Toho, this is where it launches: six concrete lanes, launch and staging docks, and 43 trailer spots plus vehicle parking — the biggest public ramp facility on the lake by a wide margin. Free, and the ramp itself runs 24 hours even though the park proper is 6 AM to sunset.

Big Toho Marina sits next door on Lakeview Drive as a separate facility with four ramps of its own, a bait and tackle shop, and a breakfast-and-lunch counter — fuel and last-minute everything without leaving the waterfront.

Lakefront Park is a designated Great Florida Birding Trail site: two jetties, three fishing piers, and a mile of paved lakeshore where snail kites roost on the grass islands and limpkins prowl the vegetation. The historic brick lighthouse on the jetty is the landmark — and one of the most reliable bank-fishing spots on the north shore.

This is the recommended jump-off for Makinson Island Conservation Area, the undeveloped island in the middle of the lake — a worthy stop between fishing spots for a walk under the oaks.

In drawdown years and dry seasons the water off the north-end ramps runs noticeably low. Big rigs should mind the trim in late spring before the summer rains refill the system.

The marsh just west of the park is where Shingle Creek — commonly called the northernmost headwater of the Everglades — meets the lake. Moving water after summer storms concentrates bait and bass along these northern grass lines: Lanier Point, Brown's Point, and North Steer Beach are all a short run.