Stick Marsh and Fellsmere bass fishing — Sebastian, Florida

The Stick Marsh is a 6,500-acre flooded former farm field in northwest Indian River County, officially the St. Johns Water Management Area, that FWC lists among Florida's top 10 trophy bass spots.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes the St. Johns Water Management Area, known to most anglers as Farm 13/Stick Marsh, as a 6,500-acre impoundment in northwest Indian River County with water depths of 4 to 8 feet. FWC names Sebastian and Fellsmere among the closest towns, along with Melbourne, Palm Bay and Vero Beach, which puts the marsh a short drive west of Sebastian through Fellsmere. Vero News described it in 2018 as a bountiful impoundment revered for big bass and huge alligators.

The name explains the hazard. FWC warns boaters unfamiliar with the area to navigate with extreme caution because of submerged and floating timber and other man-made and natural hazards. Facilities include a double-lane concrete boat ramp, an airboat launch site, a restroom and a paved lot, but FWC notes there is no gas, food or bait on site, so bait for a Stick Marsh trip has to come from Sebastian, Fellsmere or elsewhere before launching.

Largemouth bass at the Stick Marsh and the neighboring Fellsmere Reservoir must be released, which overrides Florida's usual five-bass daily limit for anglers who drive out from Sebastian.

The statewide rule allows harvest elsewhere. FWC's general freshwater regulations set a daily limit of 5 black bass, only one of which may be 16 inches or longer, with no minimum length for Florida or largemouth bass. At Stick Marsh/Farm 13, FWC reminds anglers that they are legally obligated to follow catch-and-release regulations for largemouth bass, which the agency credits for the marsh's standing as a trophy fishery.

Fellsmere Reservoir has its own rule set. The FWC Fellsmere page reports a rules update effective June 7, 2022 for the Fellsmere Water Management Area: catch and release of all largemouth bass and required circle hooks when fishing natural bait greater than three inches long. Traditional tournaments that keep bass in livewells are not allowed there; only catch, photo, release formats may run, and no tournament exemption permits are issued. Airboats are prohibited, the reservoir speed limit is 25 mph, and the boat basin and narrow canals are idle speed, no wake.

Fellsmere Reservoir, also called Headwaters Lake or Lake Egan, is a 10,000-acre manmade lake in Indian River County beside the Stick Marsh, stocked with nearly 1,000,000 Florida bass.

FWC says the Fellsmere Reservoir's water levels are managed by the St. Johns River Water Management District and that FWC and the district built underwater structure before flooding it, to create an ideal bass lake. After flooding, nearly 1,000,000 Florida bass were stocked along with bluegill, redear sunfish and crappie. The lake averages about 6 feet deep, with some areas deeper than 30 feet, and holds thousands of acres of hydrilla, cattails and spatterdock.

Access is off Fellsmere Grade Road less than 10 miles west of Fellsmere, with parking for around 44 trailers and more parking 2 miles away at the Stick Marsh ramp. The lot and ramp open one hour before sunrise and close one hour after sunset, and FWC asks kayakers to use the primitive launch at the northwest corner and park at the Stick Marsh lot. FWC says anglers can catch and release more than 40 bass on a good day at Fellsmere, averaging 1.5 to 3 pounds, with a chance at a bass over 8 pounds.

FWC's TrophyCatch program has logged 144 Lunker Club bass of 8 to 9.9 pounds from the Stick Marsh and 483 from Fellsmere Reservoir, the two big-bass waters closest to Sebastian.

TrophyCatch is FWC's citizen-science program that rewards anglers for documenting and releasing bass of 8 pounds or larger. For Farm 13/Stick Marsh, FWC lists 144 Lunker Club fish, 27 Trophy Club fish of 10 to 12.9 pounds and 1 Hall of Fame fish of 13 pounds or more. For Fellsmere Reservoir, the tallies are 483 Lunker Club, 107 Trophy Club and 3 Hall of Fame bass. Because both lakes are catch-and-release, every one of those fish went back into Indian River County water.

Seasonal patterns follow the water temperature. FWC's Stick Marsh forecast says bass become more active as water cools in October and November, move into pre-spawn in December, and can then be targeted shallow near shorelines and submerged humps. Golden shiners are a popular bait, with soft plastics, rattletraps, spinnerbaits and topwater lures. Rod, reel and terminal tackle for this kind of fishing is listed in the fishing collection on Digital Towns Market. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace.

Besides largemouth bass, anglers from Sebastian catch bluegill, redear sunfish, black crappie and catfish at the Stick Marsh and Fellsmere Reservoir, and those species follow normal statewide limits.

FWC lists largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, black crappie and several catfish species as the popular sportfish of the Stick Marsh. The agency's forecast points crappie anglers to the submerged ditches, using minnows or small jigs of 1/32 to 1/8 ounce with a twister tail or tube, and bream anglers to submerged woody structure, fish attractors and emergent vegetation near the internal levees. Shore anglers without a boat can try for bluegill and redear sunfish from the exposed dikes near the boat ramp, the most accessible fishing for a Sebastian family visiting the marsh.

At Fellsmere Reservoir, FWC says panfish anglers should find bluegill and redear in emergent vegetation and sticks near shorelines, internal levees and islands, and that crappie may suspend in deeper pits and ledges where drifting minnows or jigs works. Live golden shiners remain a staple for big bass there, with the Fellsmere circle hook rule applying to any natural bait over 3 inches. Only the bass are protected by the special release rules; other species at both Indian River County lakes fall under the general FWC freshwater limits.

The Stick Marsh habitat is maintained by FWC and the St. Johns River Water Management District through drawdowns and plantings, most recently a 2023 project that lowered the water about 4 feet.

WQCS reported on August 13, 2023 that FWC and the district had completed a large habitat project at Stick Marsh/Farm 13 in Brevard and Indian River counties. A drawdown that began in February 2023 lowered the water by about 4 feet to stimulate submersed plant growth and re-establish native emergent vegetation. It was the first drawdown since the marsh was impounded in 1991. FWC staff planted over 131,000 bulrush and 40,000 spatterdock plants in the southern end at a total cost of $400,000, set east to west as a natural wave break.

Wildlife shares the marsh with anglers. WQCS reported that two tree islands form a Critical Wildlife Area used by nesting roseate spoonbills and tricolored herons, and that the Three Forks Conservation Area to the north was drawn down at the same time. FWC's current Stick Marsh forecast notes submersed eelgrass growing in the south end and along the levees and planted bulrush doing well, the visible result of the 2023 work for Sebastian anglers who fish there.