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Lake Cannon

Polk County, Florida Natural Lake Chain of Lakes
338.8 acres18 ft deep1 rampFree ramp available
Lake Cannon Access Map 1 ramp
Depth Map → Click markers for details
Boat Ramps on Lake Cannon
Lake Cannon Park Boat Ramp
Polk County · Concrete ramp, 2 lanes, 21 trailer spots
Open Motorboat Kayak 22ft+ Boat Free
View ramp details →
Good to Know
Food & Drink
The chain's dock-and-dine circuit is the amenity: Harborside on Lake Shipp, Old Man Franks on Lake Howard, Tanners Lakeside and Twisted Prop on Lake May — all reachable by canal from any ramp on the South Chain.
Bait & Tackle
Marine Supply on Lake May — the chain's only on-water fuel dock — plus tackle shops throughout Winter Haven.
Fuel on the Water
Marine Supply on Lake May (by water); road fuel everywhere in town.
Fish Species
Largemouth Bass Black Crappie Bluegill Redear Sunfish Channel Catfish
Connected Waterways

Lake Cannon is the South Chain's crossroads: the Howard canal enters from the south, the Idylwild canal leaves the north end for Jessie, Hartridge, and the lock, and the east canal ducks under the chain's lowest fixed bridge to Lake Mirror and little Spring Lake — small craft only on that run. Westcott named the 339-acre lake 'Canon' in 1849; Army mapmakers misspelled it into its current form.

Seasonal Conditions

The chain calendar governs: shiner-and-plastics bass through the winter fronts, shallow spawners on the grass edges January through April, canal fish year-round, crappie drifts over the middle in the cool months. Cannon's 339 acres ride between Howard's chop and the small lakes' calm — a working middle. FWC's per-lake data shows the phosphorus trend softening slightly in 2024.

Local Watercraft Rules

Plain English Summary

Largemouth bassStatewide regulations apply: five black bass daily, only one 16 inches or longer. Tournament traffic is a way of life on this chain — expect weigh-in mornings at the Shipp ramps.
Canal etiquetteThe canals are the chain's streets: idle speed, single file, patience at the blind bends, and courtesy at the low fixed bridges — know your air draft before committing, especially the very low Cannon-Mirror bridge and the Cypress Gardens Boulevard crossing near Lake Roy.
The Hartridge-Conine lockThe public, self-operated lock on the Hartridge-Conine canal connects the South and North chains. It is currently open; questions go to the Lake Region Lakes Management District at 863-293-1441. Read the posted instructions and take your turn — it's simpler than it looks.
Full legal textOfficial boating regulations →
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I boat the whole Winter Haven Chain from here?
Yes — and that's the magic of this system. The South Chain's lakes sit at one elevation behind the control structure at Lake Lulu, linked by canals dug in the 1920s to move citrus, and the two chains connect through the public self-operated lock on the Hartridge-Conine canal — currently open, run by the Lake Region Lakes Management District (863-293-1441). Twenty-plus lakes are navigable in a single day from any public ramp on the system. The city counts 8 lakes in the North Chain and 14 in the South; other tallies differ at the edges, which is the kind of argument this town enjoys having.
How low is the bridge to Lake Mirror?
Low enough that the standing local advice is one word: caution. The fixed bridge on the Cannon–Mirror canal is the tightest squeeze on the South Chain — fine for jons, skiffs, and paddlecraft, a hard stop for towers, T-tops, and most windshields. If Mirror and Spring Lake are on your itinerary, know your air draft to the inch before you commit, and remember the water level rides higher in wet years, which makes the gap smaller, not bigger.
Where does the chain's water go?
Almost nowhere, almost always. The chain sits at the very top of the Peace River watershed: the South Chain's only outlet is a control structure at Lake Lulu discharging toward the Peace Creek Drainage Canal, and by the city's accounting it has discharged only a handful of times in decades. When water does leave, it begins a 100-plus-mile journey down the Peace River to Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf.
Why is Winter Haven called the Water Ski Capital of the World?
Because the sport grew up here. Dick Pope opened Cypress Gardens on Lake Eloise in 1936 and turned water skiing into show business — barefoot skiing was invented on this chain, the first human pyramids stacked up here, more than fifty world records fell on these waters, and Hollywood filmed Esther Williams gliding across them. The famous ski show ran for nearly eighty years, through the Cypress Gardens era and the Legoland years, before ending on December 30, 2024. The tradition carries on: the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team performs free monthly shows on Lake Silver, ski schools still train world-class athletes on the chain, and half the lakes have a slalom course tucked somewhere.
Scout's Notes
Lake Vibe & Fishing Intel

Lake Cannon wears a two-century-old spelling error. Dr. John Westcott, the devout surveyor who mapped this country in 1849, named it Lake Canon for his faith; Army cartographers in the Seminole Wars added an extra N, and the mistake stuck the way water names do. Westcott's lake became the South Chain's crossroads — 339 acres where the routes to Howard, to the Hartridge lock country, and to the low-bridge lakes all meet.

The county ramp on the west shore is one of the chain's quiet gems: two concrete lanes, a staging dock, flush restrooms — rare at a 24-hour facility — twenty-one trailer spots, free. It's the full-service around-the-clock option and the natural base for working the chain's middle third or heading north to run the lock. Know the gate before you plan: the east canal to Lake Mirror ducks under the lowest fixed bridge on the chain — jon-boat and kayak territory, a hard stop for anything tall. And keep the names straight on that run: the chain's Lake Mirror is a quiet 129-acre residential lake, an entirely different waterbody from Lakeland's promenade-ringed Lake Mirror eleven miles west.

Sources: FWC boat-ramp inventory (PO00067FA) & Winter Haven Chain forecast, Polk County, City of Winter Haven 2024 Lakes Report, Westcott survey history, chain navigation guides

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