Little Bonnet Lake Fishing Guide, Highlands County, Florida

• Overview

  Florida holds Little Bonnet Lake, in Highlands County. Elevation runs to 85 feet. At about 82 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. About 1.2 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Avon Park lies 3 miles from the water. The nearest city of size is Lakeland, 44 miles away. Local rules may differ a few miles either side of here.

• Where to Fish on Little Bonnet Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Documented catches and surveys in the area cover largemouth bass, bluegill and blue tilapia. Records show what people reported, so treat the list as a guide to what lives in the area. Little Bonnet Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 82°F in August and bottoms out near 61°F in January. Winter is simply the pleasant end of an unbroken season. Heat pushes fish deep from June onwards, so start early. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. It holds true on Little Bonnet Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. There is a mapped slipway roughly half a mile away. You will be walking about half a mile from the nearest car park. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Lake Letta is 0.9 miles distant. Treat access at Little Bonnet Lake as something to verify.