Whether it is bird watching, boating, skiing, fishing or just the serene ambiance of the lakes, East Polk County offers hours of leisure activities on its waters.
Dubbed "The Chain Of Lakes City" by community leaders, Winter Haven and surrounding East Polk County is the home of hundreds of freshwater lakes. Of those, 21 are connected by canals that allow boaters to go uninhibited from one lake to another.
The Chain of Lakes is divided into a northern collection of connected lakes and a southern chain of connected lakes. The five northern lakes are Haines, Rochelle, Connie, Smart and Fannie. The southern chain consists of Jessie, Idylwild, Hartridge, Cannon, Mirror, Spring, Howard, May Shipp, Lulu, Roy, Eloise, Summit and Winterset.
People enjoy the Chain of Lakes for numerous reasons - from skiing to fishing to a relaxing day with friends and family, the lakes are busy when the weather is nice. The banks of the lakes are full of birds nesting in the live oaks, palms and pine trees. Sometimes alligators, river otters and other wild animals can be spotted while boaters quietly drift along the shoreline.
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Zach Zinsmeister shows off his wake-boarding skills on Lake Summit.
Mike Potthast |
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"The biggest reason people buy a boat is to spend time with their family," says David Emry, owner of Marine Supply, The Boat Center. "This is a great place to cruise when the water is up, and the water is good now.
"People spend the day looking at the houses along the shore, going from one lake to another. They can eat at Harbor Side or another restaurant. We used to have the ski shows, too. That was fun.
"People can spend the whole day going through the Chain of Lakes."
Winter Haven has been the home to water-skiing professionals for years. Cypress Gardens, Florida's first theme park, highlighted water-skiing shows as part of its appeal. From the early, conservatively clad women atop a water skiing pyramid, Cypress Garden was in the forefront of extreme water skiing. Although Cypress Gardens is in transition to Legoland Florida, the boost the ski shows gave competitive water skiing is still felt today. Wake boarding, knee boarding, slalom skiing and barefoot skiing continue to be a huge draw to the lakes.
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Boaters enjoy the Chain of Lakes from their watercraft
Paul Crate |
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For 30 years, Scarpa Watersports has been a leader in the competitive water skiing industry. Ron Scarpa, owner of Scarpa Watersports, has on Lake Howard a ski school that features barefooting as its ultimate challenge. According to Scarpa's website, one of the key ingredients that makes a good skier great is ideal weather conditions - which, says Scarpa, Winter Haven has more days than not.
Fishing on the Chain of Lakes is so prevalent that fishing tournaments are held frequently as fundraisers and as competition for serious fishermen. Largemouth bass are the biggest lure; however, the lakes have a variety of fish, including crappie, bream, perch and catfish.
"This is a great fishing area," says Ron Schelfo, owner of Ron's Bait and Tackle. "This area produces wonderful fish.
"We had a fishing tournament in February to raise money for Winter Haven Hospital. It was a miserable day - cold and windy. We had 60 boats and we caught 130 fish. There were 15 fish that weighed over 7 pounds."
In addition to its recreational use, the Chain of Lakes serves as a watershed, draining about 32 square miles of wetlands. The interconnected bodies of water are considered Class III fresh water with a designation for use as "recreation, propagation and maintenance of a healthy, well-balanced population of fish and wildlife," according to the Lake Region Lakes Management District website.
The lakes in the Chain of Lakes were not always connected. In the early 1900s, the area was primarily wetlands, lakes and orange groves. The lakes were only connected when the ground was saturated after a season of heavy rains.
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A white ibis eases along a shoreline of a fresh water marsh.
George Aycrigg |
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What is now the Chain of Lakes began as a dream of a several boaters who wanted access through the seasonal canals year round. The Twenty Lakes Boat Course Club, organized in 1915, voted to make the occasional, high-water, pass-through between some of the lakes permanent. However after taking on the project, the club members found it a larger task than imagined. So, in 1919, the club passed it off to the state of Florida, which passed legislation taking over the creation and maintenance of the canals.
Since its inception, the Chain of Lakes has realized many improvements, and currently a project is under way to connect the northern and the southern chains.
Although some people prefer to wait until the weather is perfect and the lake levels are high before adventuring out upon the Chain of Lakes, many people have enjoyed and continue to enjoy the lakes throughout the year, regardless of the weather.
