In addition to already having successful Urban Pond and Fish Orlando! programs in place, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), in partnership with the City of Ocoee and Orange County, recently unveiled its "Fab Five," a program focused on producing quality fishing for both beginner and experienced anglers.

According to FWC Biologist and Fish Orlando! Coordinator Jim Sweatman, one of the main goals of the Fab Five initiative will be to expand public fishing interest in five area lakes and to manage them to generate piscatorial excellence for such users as tourists, youngsters and families.

As time goes on, Sweatman anticipates adding more lakes to the overall plan. But, for now, the selected lakes, management aims and proposed activities include:

1. Stark Lake, a 202-acre water body located in Ocoee, will be designed to provide a balanced bass and bluegill fishery for use as a community angling site. Planned work on Stark includes removal of nuisance aquatic vegetation and replanting with beneficial native plants. There'll be a designated boat landing area, plus no wake zones to protect the transplanted vegetation. A fishing pier or platform with nearby fish feeders and rock will be constructed and, possibly, chubsuckers will be stocked to provide large bait fish for a growing bass population.
2. Turkey Lake (339 acres) off International Drive will provide locals and tourists with an opportunity to catch quality bass and crappie after nuisance shoreline vegetation is replaced with desirable plants to improve habitat and bank access. Brush and rock attractors will be placed to concentrate fish, while an additional pier with handicap access and nearby feeders will be constructed. Rental boats will be available on a limited basis to compensate for a lack of a public launching ramp. A camping area and primitive cabin construction is in the planning stages.
3. Kirkman Pond (10 acres), a small water body also convenient for the International Drive tourist community, will be renovated to provide a quality hybrid bluegill and largemouth bass fishery. Area hotels and motels will work with the Fab 5 program by lending rods and reels to guests. Sweatman said that feeders, an aeration system and a covered pier will be installed.
4. Cane-Marsha Park includes three small lakes including Lupine (7 acres), Shadow Bay (5 acres) and Woodland (3 acres), and will be designed to offer a variety of quality angling opportunities. In Lupine Lake, large catfish will be planted and fish feeders built to sustain growth. A covered pier will be constructed, an aeration system installed, and shoreline vegetation will be treated to provide better bank access. Shadow Bay activities will include installing a fishing pier, an aeration system, fish feeders and rocks to concentrate stocked bass and bluegill populations. Also planned is the removal of muck areas and a revegetation program with desirable aquatic plants and eelgrass. Due to poor water quality existing in Woodland Pond, the Commission will first renovate the water body before restocking it with fish.
5. Clear Lake (313 acres) will provide a quality hybrid striped bass fishery for area residents. Its current grass carp population will be removed and revegetation programs will soon begin. Other immediate plans call for placement of a fishing pier and fish feeders, and investigating the potential of attracting fish to fishermen by using artificial water flow.