FWC and City of Port St. Lucie working to improve fishing access and habitat at Peacock Park lake
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is working with the City of Port St. Lucie Parks & Recreation Department to restore aquatic habitat and improve fishing access at O.L. Peacock Sr. Park’s 102-acre lake in St. Lucie County.
Earlier this year, the FWC and City of Port St. Lucie staff removed 4 acres of invasive Brazilian peppertree, treated 2 acres of invasive aquatic plants and planted native vegetation throughout the lake. The planted species, which includes cypress trees, bulrush, spikerush, smartweed, pickerelweed and swamp lily, will provide habitat for native fish and wildlife.
In 2018, a 15-pound, 11-ounce largemouth bass was caught at the lake in Peacock Park. This bass was the largest of the season documented by TrophyCatch, the FWC’s citizen-science program intended to collect data on largemouth bass caught by anglers throughout the state. Before this restoration project began, fishing access at the lake was limited due to overgrowth of Brazilian peppertrees. A central goal of this project is to improve shore access for anglers to enjoy the lake’s productive sunfish and largemouth bass fishery.
This work was made possible by funding within the FWC as well as the City of Port St. Lucie Parks & Recreation Department. FWC staff will continue to monitor the success of the planted vegetation. Port St. Lucie and FWC staff plan to continue collaboration on future projects at the lake and encourage the public to use this resource for fishing and wildlife viewing.
For general waterbody information, fishing forecasts, virtual tours, plant control operation schedules and annual workplans, boat ramp information, and more, visit the What’s Happening on My Lake website at MyFWC.com/Lake.
Visit the City of Port St. Lucie’s website for more information on O.L. Peacock Sr. Park. Visit MyFWC.com to read about the FWC’s aquatic habitat restoration activities.
