F I S H !
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
CANALS
ANGLER'S GUIDE TO
CENTRAL E-4 CANAL
(LAKE OSBORNE TO
LAKE IDA)
PALM BEACH COUNTY
Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission
801 NW 40th Street
Boca Raton, Florida 33431
DESCRIPTION-The E-4
Canal is located in eastern Palm Beach County and flows south through
a series of naturally occurring, but highly modified freshwater
lakes. The E-4 Canal connects the West Palm Beach Canal (C-51) near
Palm Beach International Airport with the Hillsboro Canal (G-08) in
Boca Raton. The E-4 Canal offers anglers nearly 17 miles of fishable
waters as it flows through the Ida-Osborne chain of lakes and
provides anglers access to 670 acres of lakes and 23 additional miles
of boatable canals. This map (1 of 3 in the E-4 series) highlights
the central section of the E-4 Canal system between Lake Osborne and
Lake Ida.
The central section of the E-4 Canal
flows through the cities of Lake Worth, Lantana, and Boynton Beach.
The canal in this area is characterized by sloping sides stabilized
with concrete revetment, ranges in width from 50 to 180 feet,
averages about six feet deep, and has a sandy bottom. The lakes in
this section include 50-acre Lake Eden, 120-acre Lake Ida, six-acre
Lake Constantino, 20-acre Lake Leisureville, and 380- acre Lake
Osborne
From the boat ramp on Lake Ida, it
is 5.3 miles to the Boynton Canal (C-16) and 7.8 miles to Lake
Osborne. Traveling west from the E-4 and Boynton Canal intersection,
it is 1.3 miles to the water control structure . Traveling east it is
0.4 miles to the Pioneer Park boat ramp and 1.8 miles to the salinity
structure (S-41) near Federal Highway. The Boynton Canal ranges in
width from 90 to 180 feet and averages about nine feet deep.
BOAT RAMP DIRECTIONS-There
are four public boat ramps on this system; all can be reached from
I-95 by exiting at Atlantic Avenue, Boynton Beach Boulevard, or 6th Avenue South and using the map.
These ramps are paved, well maintained, and located in city and
county parks with plenty of parking, picnic tables, grills,
playgrounds, and most have restrooms. All these parks are open from
dawn to dusk.
The entire length of the E-4 Canal
is posted as "No Wake Zone" so boaters should plan their
trip accordingly. The E-4 Canal has many low bridges and overhead
pipes and care should be taken when going under them.
GENERAL FISHING INFORMATION-
There is good access for shoreline
anglers on the west and south banks of Lake Ida that lie within the
Lake Ida County Park, and on the east shore of Lake Ida that lies
within the City of Delray Park. There is also shore access along the
east side of the canal between Lake Ida Road and the I-95 overpass.
Fishing piers are located north of the Lake Ida boat ramp, next to
the boat ramp at Pioneer Park on the Boynton Canal (C-16), and east
of the boat ramp on Lake Osborne. Nearly the entire shoreline of the
north lobe of Lake Osborne between Lake Worth Road and 6th Avenue
South is accessible to shore anglers. The E-4 Canal and associated
lakes and lateral canals provide excellent fishing for largemouth
bass, bluegill and redear sunfish. Sunshine bass are also stocked in
Lakes Ida, Eden, and Osborne.
Canal intersections and culverts are
generally productive areas for catching most species of fish.
Shoreline vegetation, rip-rap areas, and shady areas associated with
bridges and culverts also provide excellent places to fish. If there
is a strong current in the main canal, look for any protected areas
that offer refuge from the current (e.g., cut-outs, bridge pilings,
and the downstream side of non-flowing spillways of lateral canals).
The downstream side of culverts and spillways with flowing water are
sometimes especially good places to fish. Fish attractors, identified
by bright yellow buoys in lakes Ida, Eden and Osborne, are also good
fishing spots.
The central E-4 and Boynton (C-16)
canals have more largemouth bass than most other southeast Florida
canals, and 30% are larger than 14 inches. Overall , the average size
of largemouth bass is 13.2 inches (1.1 pounds). Fishing for
largemouth bass tends to be best during the winter when the water
temperatures are cooler and in the evening, night, and early morning
during the summer. The bag limit for largemouth bass is five fish per
day, only one of which can be longer than 14 inches.
The number and quality of panfish in
these systems is higher when compared to other area canals. Live
worms and crickets are the choice baits for many panfish anglers,
although fresh bread or bread dough works well, is readily available
and it costs less.
After a series of warmer than
average winters, a few butterfly peacock have also found their way
into this area. The butterfly peacock is a world renowned gamefish
that was successfully introduced by the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission in the mid 1980's to eat undesirable exotic
fishes, and to provide more sportfishing opportunities for anglers in
southeast Florida canals. The bag limit for butterfly peacock is two
fish per day, only one of which may be over 17 inches. Butterfly
peacock are sensitive to water temperatures below 60oF which makes them susceptible to
periodic winterkills in the E-4 Canal system.
In addition to largemouth bass,
bluegill, and redear sunfish, central E-4 Canal anglers can also
catch several exotic fishes including oscars from South America,
spotted tilapia from Africa, and Mayan cichlids from Central America.
These exotic species were illegally released and pose a threat to
native species. Oscars, spotted tilapia, and Mayan cichlids are all
bream-shaped fishes. Oscars have a red or orange circle at the base
of the tail, and have a thick layer of protective mucus on their
bodies. Spotted tilapia are golden with black vertical bars or spots,
and some have red on them. Mayan cichlids are colorful and
snapper-like in appearance with a turquoise ring around a black spot
at the base of their tail. These exotic fishes taste good and you can
keep every one you catch.
The central E-4 and associated lakes
and canals receive a great deal of fishing pressure so we encourage
anglers to release most, if not all of the largemouth bass and
butterfly peacock they catch. If anglers don't release most of the
sportfish they catch, these high quality fisheries will deteriorate
rapidly.
Anglers should be aware that vandalism
occurs at some boat ramps. Therefore, care should be taken to secure
your vehicle and keep valuables out of sight or take them with you
when you leave the ramp.
Acrobat PDF files of this and other brochures are available for printing on our fisheries publications site.
