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Best Bass Fishing and Sightseeing on West Lake Toho: Kissimmee Boat Rentals
Kissimmee boat rentals near Walt Disney World and Davenport, handed over at the Kissimmee Marina ramp. Skip the trailer, we bring the boat and launch it for you.
Kissimmee Marina
Seats up to 12
Four hour minimum
Delivery, fuel, and tax included
Staying near Disney? This is your closest lake day
West Lake Tohopekaliga, or Lake Toho, is world-famous for one thing: trophy bass fishing. Whether you are here for a family vacation near Disney or a serious fishing trip, we make getting on the water easy.
Kissimmee is where a large share of Walt Disney World visitors stay, and Lake Toho sits right on its lakefront, minutes from the resort area. If you are in a vacation home, a rental on 192, or a resort in the Davenport and Celebration area, this is the shortest drive to open water you will find.
It is also the easiest break from the parks. No queues, no wristbands, no six o’clock alarm. A half day on Toho is a genuinely different pace from a park day, and you are back in time for dinner.
Captain Mike’s tip for West Lake Toho
“Lake Toho is my recommendation for fishing and cruising on the pontoon especially if you are staying near Disney. I can bring some fishing gear and a cooler, you just show up.”
Live bait is available at Ace Hardware or Richardson’s Fish Camp (a short boat ride from where we will meet).
Where we meet you
We handle the towing and launching. You just show up, step on board, and head out.
Your meeting point for West Lake Toho rentals. Get directions
Meeting point
Kissimmee Marina, formerly Big Toho Marina. Public ramp handoff.
Address
69 Lakeview Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34741
Parking
Plentiful public parking is available at the lakefront park.
Kissimmee Lakefront Park
Our meeting point at the Kissimmee Marina is located within the beautiful Kissimmee Lakefront Park. It features a splash pad for kids, picnic pavilions, and paved walking trails, making it a perfect spot for the family to hang out before or after your boat rental. The marina has live bait, a restaurant and bar, waterfront seating and ice for sale. Call ahead to make sure live bait is in stock.
Cooler
Fishing poles
Bucket with bubbler
Artificial bait
Boats To You Rentals provides all of the above at no additional cost.
Why rent on West Lake Toho?
World-class fishing
Home to professional bass tournaments, this lake is legendary for huge catches.
Wildlife viewing
Expect to see alligators, eagles, and osprey in the wild.
Disney proximity
We are just minutes from the major theme parks.
Room to spread out
Toho is a big, open lake, so you are not fighting for space on a busy weekend.
Bring the kids, bring the rods
Toho is shallow, grassy and full of structure, which is exactly why the bass grow here. Fishing poles, a cooler and a bait bucket with a bubbler come with every rental, along with a Coast Guard approved life jacket for every seat, so a family that has never fished before can still have a real day on the water. Live bait is available at the marina, so call ahead to make sure it is in stock before you drive over.
Best bass fishing and sightseeing on West Lake Toho
West Lake Toho is the biggest lake in the Kissimmee Chain, close to 19,000 acres of shallow, grassy water at the headwaters of the Everglades. That grass is why the bass grow big here, and the open water is why a slow cruise round the lake is worth the trip even if you never pick up a rod.
Bass fishing on Toho
Best months
January to March is the spawn, when the biggest females move into the shallows. Summer fishes well too, but keep it to early morning and the last two hours before sunset.
Where to look
Work the outside edge of the hydrilla and Kissimmee grass, the lily pads along the shoreline, and the mouth of Shingle Creek at the north end, a short run from the marina.
What to throw
Wild shiners are the local favorite for big fish. Artificials come with the boat, and Texas-rigged plastics, swim jigs and topwater frogs all do work in the grass.
License
Anyone 16 or older needs a Florida freshwater fishing license, resident or not. Buy it online before you arrive and keep it on your phone.
Sightseeing on Toho
Idle out of the marina and you are straight into the good stuff. Makinson Island sits in the middle of the lake as a protected preserve, so it is the best spot to watch for bald eagles and osprey on the tree line. Alligators sun on the banks in the cooler months, and sandhill cranes and herons work the shallows all year.
Loop the lake at cruising speed and you get the Kissimmee skyline and Lakefront Park from the water, then miles of undeveloped shoreline. Time the last hour for sunset over the west bank. It is the one part of the day the pontoon was built for, so bring the drinks and let the stereo run.
Which boat suits West Lake Toho?
For Toho, we recommend the pontoon. It is the right boat for what this lake does best: fishing, cruising, wildlife watching and sunsets, with shade over your head and room to move around. The quiet four-stroke engine matters here too, since you spend a lot of the day at low speed.
| Compare | Pontoon “Wilma” Our pick | Deck boat “Betty” |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 21ft Lowe | 20ft Hurricane |
| Seats | 8 to 11 | 8 to 12 |
| Shade | Bimini top | Bimini top |
| Stereo | Kicker Bluetooth | Kicker Bluetooth |
| Engine | 90hp Mercury four-stroke | 200hp Mercury with tow bar |
| Best for | Fishing, cruising, wildlife, sunsets | Watersports on Lake Maitland or Lake Fairview. |
| From | $450, four hour minimum | $550, four hour minimum |
See the full spec on both boats
Toho is not the lake for swimming and tubing
We would rather tell you that now than after you have booked. If watersports are the point of your day, Lake Maitland or Lake Fairview are the better call.
Who drives, and when we start
Captain Mike, USCG licensed
If you drive, you can have the maximum safe capacity. On West Lake Toho, East Lake Toho and the St. Johns River, Coast Guard rules only allow 6 passengers if Captain Mike is hired to drive. Hiring him is $150 for the first four hours, then $25 an hour.
Captain Mike meets you at the Kissimmee Marina ramp, launches the boat, and walks you through it before you leave the dock: throttle and trim, where the grass gets thick, which way to head for fishing or for the island, and how to reach him if anything comes up. Never driven a pontoon before? That is most of our customers, and the walkthrough is built for them.
On the water at West Lake Toho
Rates and booking
We bring the boat to you for one flat price. The pontoon starts at $450 and the deck boat at $550 for a four hour minimum, then $50 an hour after that. Eight hours is $650 on the pontoon and $750 on the deck boat. Delivery, fuel and Florida sales tax are already in the number, so nothing gets added at the ramp.
Staying for the week? Multi-day rentals start at $275 a day, and we can leave the boat at your dock for the whole trip for a one-time $50 valet fee. Want Captain Mike to drive? That is $150 for the first four hours, then $25 an hour. Full rates are on the pricing page.
West Lake Toho questions we get asked
Do I need a fishing license on West Lake Toho?
Yes if you are 16 or older, whether you live in Florida or not. It is a freshwater license, sold online through the state’s Go Outdoors Florida site and by local license agents. A day or three-day non-resident license is enough for a rental. Kids under 16 fish free.
Where do we get live bait?
Wild shiners are the local favorite and the marina sells live bait, as does Ace Hardware. Richardson’s Fish Camp is a short boat ride from where we meet if you would rather pick it up on the water. Call ahead either way, because bait sells out. The bucket with a bubbler comes with the boat, and artificial bait is already aboard.
Are life jackets on the boat?
Yes, a Coast Guard approved jacket for every seat, sized for adults and kids. Florida law says children under six wear theirs the whole time the boat is moving, so tell us how many little ones are coming when you book and we will have the right sizes aboard.
What should we bring?
Sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and more water than you think. Snacks and drinks for the cooler. Your fishing license on your phone, and a towel for the fish photos. The boat already has the cooler, rods, artificial bait and the bait bucket, so all you need to buy is live shiners at the marina if you want them.
Are the alligators a problem?
No. Toho has plenty of them and they want nothing to do with a boat. Keep hands, feet and dogs out of the water, never feed them, and give any gator on the bank its space. This is the other reason we do not run swimming or tubing on this lake.
Is there a bathroom on the boat?
No, neither boat has a head. Use the restrooms at Kissimmee Lakefront Park before you launch, and plan a run back to the marina mid-day if you are out for eight hours with kids. The marina bar is a fair excuse for the stop.
Can we bring our dog?
Well behaved dogs are welcome. Keep them inboard on this lake and out of the water.
Can we take the boat through the lock to the other lakes?
Rentals stay on West Lake Toho. The Southport lock into Cypress Lake and the rest of the chain is a long run from the marina and adds a lot of time to your day, so we keep the boats on the big lake where the fishing and the sightseeing are. If you want East Lake Toho instead, we deliver there too, at the North Side public ramp in St. Cloud.
Other lakes we deliver to
Toho is our fishing and sightseeing lake. If your group wants tubing, wakeboarding or a swim off the boat, one of these is the better day, and the same flat rate applies. We deliver to 11 lakes and chains in total. Lake Brantley and the Harris Chain are call-only.
See every Orlando lake we deliver to.
Pontoon from
$450
Four hour minimum, then $50 an hour
Deck boat from
$550
Multi-day from
$275 a day
Meeting point
Kissimmee Marina
Capacity
8 to 12
Delivery, fuel and Florida sales tax are already in the price.
Book your boat
Fastest way is a text. Tell me your date, lake, and how many people. I reply the same day, usually within the hour.
Prefer email? The form works too.
Captain Mike