A Central Florida Marina on the Oklawaha River

Enjoy Fishing and Boating on the Oklawaha River and Beyond!

Now we're talkin'! The Oklawaha River is my homewater and Nelson's Outdoor Resort offers a great marina here - one of the finest for fishing and boating on the Oklawaha River, in the greater Lake Griffin area of Central Florida.

Complete Oklawaha River Marina Facilities

Two Boat Ramps/Launches

Central Florida Camping & Fishing on the Oklawaha River

Choose from the resort's paved or gravel boat launches/ramps - just $4.00 per launch!

Boat Slips

Dock your watercraft at our boat slips and enjoy great rates!
Ask about our FREE Boat Slip Special!

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Oklawaha River Fishing

The beautiful water of the Oklawaha River offers a variety of fish species that make for a challenging and enjoyable fishing experience (take it from me - I've been avoiding baited hooks around here my whole life!).

Wet your line from the fishing dock or take your boat out on the clear water and reel in a good time fishing for:

Black Crappie Common Names: Specks, Speckled Perch, Bachelor Perch, White Perch, Calico Bass, Strawberry Bass and Papermouth. Habitat: From winter through early spring, Black Crappie like to hang out in lily pads, peppergrass, hyacinths, stumps, weed beds, brush piles, and submerged branches and trees. From late spring through late fall, they dive to cooler water. Sporting Information: Black Crappie are considered good game fish. During the cold months, bait-fishermen should try grass shrimp, live Missouri minnows, crickets, worms or grasshoppers and artificial lure anglers will want to use a spinner-fly combination, subsurface flies, small spinners, jigs, and tiny crankbaits.				Catfish VARIETIES Channel Catfish (Blue Channel Catfish, River Catfish, and Spotted Catfish) are common in large rivers and streams. They prefers some current, and deep water with gravel, rubble or sand bottoms. Channel Catfish are generally caught by bottom fishing using baits such as nightcrawlers and chicken livers & gizzards as they prefer prepared bait to live bait. White Catfish (Forked-Tail Catfish) prefer the warmer water (80-85 degrees) of ponds, reservoirs, river backwaters and slow streams, making them more tolerant of silty bottoms and higher salinity. Second only to the Channel Cat in popularity, White Catfish are generally caught with live minnow and worms. Yellow Bullhead (Butter Catfish, Chucklehead Catfish, Creek Catfish, Greaser, Polliwog, White-Whiskered Bullhead, and Yellow Catfish) make their home in the vegetated areas of clear, shallow streams, ponds, reservoirs and lakes and is best caught with worms, cut bait, worms, crickets and other natural and prepared baits. They can be caught at any time of day, but bite best at night. Brown Bullhead (Creek Catfish, Horned Pout, Mud Catfish, Red Catfish, Speckled Catfish) are generally found in still or slow-flowing warm waters (78-82 degrees) in streams, rivers, reservoirs, ponds and lakes with mud, muck, gravel or sand bottoms. Bait them with minnows, worms, shrimp, chicken innards and stinkbait.

Largemouth Bass Common Names: Bigmouth Bass, Black Bass, Bucketmouth Bass, Florida Bass, Florida Largemouth, Green Bass, Green Trout, Linesides and Oswego Bass. Habitat: Largemouth Bass prefer clear water at a temperature of 65-85 degrees where plenty of food (fish, crayfish, crabs, frogs, salamanders, snakes, mice, turtles and even birds) and cover are available. Typically they are found at depths of less than 20 feet. Sporting Information: The aggressive Largemouth Bass is widely known as the most popular freshwater game fish in Florida. They will strike upon almost any type of bait, live or artificial, and shiner minnows, crankbaits, spinnerbaits and plastic worms are very popular.				Redbreast Sunfish Common Names: Bream, Longear Sunfish, Redbelly, Redbreast Bream, River Bream, Robin, Sun Perch and Yellowbelly Sunfish. Habitat: Redbreast Sunfish are found in both sand-bottom and rocky areas and often cluster around tree roots, aquatic vegetation, logs, limestone outcroppings and boulders. Sporting Information: Aggressive fighters once caught, Redbreast Sunfish will bite at a variety of bait, including small minnows, grasshoppers, crickets, worms, flies and small spinners. They bite day and night. Best catches are generally made from a rifting or slowly powered boat, though bank anglers do make good catches.

Spotted Sunfish Common Names: Stumpknocker and Bream. Habitat: Spotted Sunfish tend to be found in heavily vegetated, slow-moving rivers and streams and creeks of all sizes marked by sand, limestone and gravel substrates. Sporting Information: Spotted Sunfish, like other small panfish tend to respond to a wide array of bait, including worms, flies, small spinners, crickets, grasshoppers, and small minnows. Though small, they will put up an active fight once hooked.				Alligator OK, it's not technically "fishing," but alligator hunts have been growing in popularity since their introduction in 1988 as a model of sustainable use of a natural resource. The alligator hunting season runs from Aug. 15 through Nov. 1. More than 4,000 alligator harvest permits are made available on a first-come, first-served basis. Harvest Management Units, made up of areas containing sovereign and/or publicly owned waters, are established each year and given harvest quotas.

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Boating, Canoeing and Kayaking on the Oklawaha River and Beyond

Nelson's Outdoor Resort is located in a boat-lover's paradise! The Oklawaha River is one of the only three rivers in the world that flow north and it makes a fine location for scenic boating, canoeing and kayaking. Other major boating areas and activities include: