Fishing Lake Ida
There is adequate access for all anglers; we will cover the shoreline access and boating access below. Shoreline anglers have complete access to Lake Ida’s west and south banks in the Lake Ida County Park. On the east shore of Lake Ida, fishing lies within the City of Delray Park. There is also shore access along the canal’s east side between Lake Ida Road and the I-95 overpass.
Looking more North, nearly the entire shoreline of Lake Osborne’s north lake between Lake Worth Road and 6th Avenue South is accessible to bank fishermen.
The E-4 Canal is located in eastern Palm Beach County and flows south through a series of naturally occurring fishing canals, 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 below highlights the sections between Lake Osborne and Lake Ida of the E-4 Canal system. The central section through Lake Worth, Lantana, and Boynton Beach flow through the E-4 Canal. The canal characterized by sloping sides stabilized with concrete revetment in this area. It ranges in width from 50 to 180 feet, averages about six feet deep, and has a sandy bottom. This section includes 50-acre Lake Eden, 120-acre Lake Ida, six-acre Lake Constantino, 20-acre Lake Leisureville, and 380- acre Lake Osborne.
The Boynton Canal (C-16) boat ramp on Lake Ida is 5.3 miles and to Lake Osborne, it’s 7.8 miles. Traveling Boynton Canal west from the E-4 and the intersection is 1.3 miles to the water control structure. Traveling east the Pioneer Park boat ramp is 0.4 miles and the salinity structure (S-41) near Federal Highway is 1.8 miles. The canals range from 90 to 180 feet in width and averages about nine feet deep around the Boynton area.
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.
lake Ida fish species
Lake Ida is a body of water in Palm Beach County, Florida. It’s a year-round fishery due to the great Soth Florida weather. Available species are Common Carp, Peaco*ck Bass, Largemouth Bass, Clown Knife Fish, Panfish / Bluegill, Spotted Tilapia, Pickeral, Oscars, Sunshine Bass.
Not all areas are good for all species, here are some key areas for specific species. The E-4 Canal is one of the better largemouth bass areas and the nearby associated lakes and lateral canals provide excellent bluegill and redear sunfish fishing.
The Boynton C-16 canals have more largemouth bass than most other southeast Florida canals, and 30% are more extensive than 14 inches. Overall, the average size of largemouth bass is 13.2 inches, 1.4 pounds. Fishing for largemouth bass in these areas tends to be best during the winter when the water temperatures are more relaxed and in the evening, night, and early morning during the summer.
Lakes Ida, Eden, and Lake Osborne are the prominent Sunshine bass areas that were stocked. The depth of these areas and the shad population keep targeted to these areas.
In addition, the 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 posed 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 tail base 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 their tail base. These exotic fishes taste great, and you can keep every one you catch with no limit laws in place.
The quality of panfish in these systems is higher when compared to other area canals. But normal catching techniques can be used, crickets and live worms are common baits for many panfish anglers. Old reliable and conventional fresh bread dough balls still work well, even for Grass Carp are readily available, and cost less.
The bag limit for largemouth bass is five fish per day; only one can be longer than 14 inches. The butterfly peaco*ck bag limit is two fish per day, per person. Which only one fish may be over 17 inches.
