Headwaters Boat Rentals: Welcome to Mr. Charlesworth’s Neighborhood
In 2007, I flew across the country to fish as an amateur in the Elite Series “Duel in the Delta,” my second tournament on the famed California Delta. After practicing with Kevin VanDam for three days, my first day draw did not hail from some distant port, but rather from 30 minutes away from my Virginia home. James Charlesworth had fished the Classic earlier that year in Alabama and was embarking on his rookie season as an Elite pro.
I needn’t have worried about his rookie status or lack of familiarity with western waters. In just his second Elite event, he made the Day Four cut, eventually finishing 12th. He had 16-11 the day we fished together, which included a solid 8-pounder that he flipped up from a row of tules on low tide. That had him in 26th, and a 21-06 bag the next day vaulted him up to 6th.
Fellow rookie Derek Remitz, who had won the first event of the season on Amistad, and went on to become the Rookie of the Year ultimately finished as runner-up to Aaron Martens at the Delta.
Charlesworth had a full time job of a medical device salesman during his run as a pro angler, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t really feasible to do both, so he left the Elites after one season. He never left fishing, though. He competed in a number of Open level tournaments, and while he was still in Virginia I’d occasionally see him on the Potomac. Today he continues his medical sales business, but also has a new venture – this one in the fishing industry – that should interest any anglers who finds himself or herself in Central Florida. Even if you’re not already there, and don’t have any existing plans to visit, what you’re about to read may convince you to buy a plane ticket.
HPFC: I think of you as being from Virginia. Did you move specifically to be near Headwaters or did a world-class fishery just happen to pop up in your backyard?
CHARLESWORTH: I’ve fished the Stick Marsh since 1998 or 1999, when it was the best place in the country. I loved it, but it kind of died off a few years later when there were four or five hurricanes in a row. I had a house in St. Cloud the entire time, and I had a jeep and an aluminum boat in the garage. I’d put Sta-bil in it and it would be ready as soon as I got here. There are so many lakes here, including Toho and all these little catch and release lakes – like Lake Jackson and Kenansville, everyone has seen a bunch of TV shows built there – and now Headwaters. At one point Bassmaster rated it as the number one lake in the south at one point, but now O.H. Ivie has taken the lead with the forward-facing sonar stuff. But as far as frogging and flipping, which is why I fell in love with bass fishing, it’s the best place on the planet.
HPFC: How exactly was the fishery created? Is it old orange groves? Quarries that were filled in?
CHARLESWORTH: The Headwaters lake is the headwaters of the St. Johns River. The state of Florida filled it with water and didn’t let anybody fish it for 10 years. They stocked it with I think over a million bass and incredible amounts of shad and bluegill and all sorts of stuff. If you’ve fished Okeechobee, you know what you’re looking for – that certain spot, that certain area. You have to burn gallons of gas to get to that area. I love Okeechobee, don’t get me wrong, it’s one of my favorite places on the planet, but you’ve got to find that certain area. At the Headwaters, when you pull up, you’re at the area. I’ve trolled away from the ramp and made a couple of flips and caught 6, 7 and 8-pounders.
HPFC: How does it compare to Stick Marsh in terms of how it lays out?
CHARLESWORTH: Right now the Headwaters is the deal. The Stick Marsh is going to be phenomenal again in a few years. They did a drawdown this year. I mentioned those hurricanes around 2003 and 2004 -- when there’s wind, it hurts the light penetration and that hurts the vegetation, and it never really rebounded. The pulled it down a couple of feet, so the light is penetrating and the hydrilla and grass is growing. It is a phenomenal place.
The Headwaters has little canals that are dug out a little bit deeper. There are hydrilla fields. There are deeper pits. You can flip mats of hyacinths. You can flip deeper hydrilla. You can throw a Chatterbait or swimbait, and of course you can frog.
If you go to the boat ramp in the winter, there may be hundreds of boats. All from Minnesota, Canada, New York, New Jersey. They’re all coming down to fish this incredible place. Literally the first time I came down in the winter I had to park in a separate parking lot because the lot was completely full. I stopped at the first cut-through. The wind was blowing and I had one that was 11 pounds and four over 5 in 30 minutes. I was like, “Are you kidding me?” It’s just the perfect little ecosystem for Florida. Last year they made it completely catch and release.
HPFC: Where did you get the idea to start renting boats to anglers?
CHARLESWORTH: I’ve always fixed up boats, and from fishing the Elites I know that there are certain ways we like our boats rigged for efficiency. And knowing John Cox and Keith Carson, they both fish out of aluminum boats. So I’ll grab these aluminum boats and I spray them with bedliner. I add SeaDek. Right now they’re all Lowrance Ghost Trolling Motors with spot lock. I switch the prop to an aftermarket weedless prop that’s phenomenal. You don’t really need a depthfinder in Florida – you just put your flipping stick down and see how deep it is – but it’s nice to have mapping on there so I have the mapping units from Lowrance on the dash to tell you how deep it is and to give you some mapping. I’ve got brand new Yamahas.
So I got the idea that there are so many people coming down, and it costs so much to tow a boat from the northeast. One time, I heard people talk and couldn’t figure out what language it was. They came around the corner and they were from Italy. They’re speaking Italian. Everybody knows about the Headwaters now, and since it’s catch and release, there’s all those tens and twelves there. So I got the idea that if you’re traveling that far, why not save the money and have access to a boat that’s the way you’d rig your own boat. Guys are loving it so far.
HPFC: Is it a hard place to navigate if you haven’t been there before?
CHARLESWORTH: You just use common sense. It is very easy to navigate. There are a couple of canals you use to get around and a couple of shallow areas between the canals. I’ve never hit anything out there. You have to be smart running through the grass. Your motor has to be cool and have water pressure.
If you look at the map, it’s a big rectangle.
My idea was that if you’re coming down here with family, or if you’re here on business, you can jump in a boat with two guys and you can flip or frog or throw a swimbait all day long and have a blast. You show up at the ramp and the boat’s full of gas. Gas is included. I’ve got a cooler full of ice, so bring a sandwich and some drinks and jump in and go fishing. There’s a speed limit on the lake of 25 miles per hour, which makes it the perfect place to rent a boat.
HPFC: Are there any requirements or any limitations on who can rent from you?
CHARLESWORTH: I offer a discount if you have a boater safety certification. Right now I’m running a special through TrophyCatch.com. If you catch a fish over 8 pounds in the state of Florida, then you get an award from the state and you’re entered in a contest for a fully-rigged boat. But right now, in the month of July, the first three fish that are entered out of one of my boats, I’m giving them $1,000. Right now it’s $800 a day to rent one of my boats. The guides down here are fantastic. I’m friends with a lot of them. That’s a great way to go catch fish. But this is a great way to create your own adventure.
HPFC: Do you need your own insurance?
CHARLESWORTH: I’ve got insurance. There’s a contract on DocuSign, you sign it up front and it’s a done deal. There is a speed limit of 25 miles per hour, and they do enforce it.
I drop the boat at the ramp, meet you at the ramp, and it’s dawn until dusk. Where else can you do that? I rent a pontoon every year in North Carolina for the family and from 10am until 4pm, that’s like $650 – and we have put gas in it when we’re done. This is gas-included, full cooler of ice, you go out and fish the way you want to fish. You split it with a couple of guys and you have a blast.
HPFC: How long does it take to get there for someone coming from ICAST or any of the other major tourist attractions?
CHARLESWORTH: It takes me right at an hour and ten minutes to get to the airport. It’s just so easy – show up in your rental car at the ramp. You bring a couple of rods, although I do have rods for rent if they’re interested in that as well, they can literally go out for a day, take a client out.
HPFC: If someone wants to travel light and rent your rods, but they need a little tackle bag, what are some key lures and key colors to pack?
CHARLESWORTH: Right now, flipping is the big deal on the deeper hydrilla edges. I would always recommend a ¾ or 1 ounce wherever you go in Florida, no matter what. Black and blue and junebug colors are fantastic, but I’ve absolutely murdered them on the watermelon stuff, too. You need to figure out which one the fish want on that particular day. Other than that, I love throwing absolutely massive glide baits, swimbaits and topwaters. The topwater fishing is absolutely amazing. I have caught so many fish over 8 pounds on the Strike King Mega Dawg, it would blow your mind. You can fish it on the edges of the hydrilla, the points, the intersections of the canals and get so many big fish to come up and eat it. You can walk it fast or you can fish it slow, too. You’ll stop it, and some of the biggest bites come as it’s sitting still after you’ve walked it a couple of times. My wife goes out there with a Speed Worm and catches four to my one. I rig her up with a Junebug or watermelon red Speed Worm and a light weight and she throws it out, slow cranks it, and just hammers them. You also have to always keep an eye out for schooling fish and keep a Rat-L-Trap ready for that.
HPFC: A lot of people want to get out of the cold in the winter, or get down to Florida during the spawn. Is the summer an underrated time for fishing?
CHARLESWORTH: Absolutely. This is a fantastic time to come and catch numbers of fish and large fish. The first time I went out there was this time of year and I threw a Rat-L-Trap and I would yo-yo it and let it hit the bottom and I caught that 11-pounder. Not only is it a fantastic time of year, but there isn’t as much pressure on the water right now. There’s still some boats in the parking lot, but it’s catch and release and they’re Florida strain. Their metabolism is as fast as it gets right now.
HPFC: What’s the best way to get in touch with you and check on availability?
CHARLESWORTH: Go to my website, PalmBayOutfitters.com. Send an inquiry and I’ll get right back to you. If they’re coming early or staying late for ICAST, they can fish for a day, whatever they’re schedule allows.
HPFC: What are your plans for the future?
CHARLESWORTH: Florida is where the United States comes to retire. There are so many older people who are phenomenal fishermen who had boats their entire lives but don’t want one anymore. They may live in a condo at the beach or something like that. But they still want the opportunity to come and rent a boat whenever they want, so I’m going to be offering a club deal. They can join for a set price, monthly dues, and use the boat as much as they want.
