Top Crappie Lakes in Florida

 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) annually issues a list of top crappie destinations, as well as lists for other sport fish. For complete reports on lakes around the region, and other freshwater sport fish, click here. This year, Cheree Steward, an FWC fisheries biologist in Eustis, helped compile the list.

The list includes:

>Rodman Reservoir (between Gainesville and Palatka);

>LakeMonroe (near Sanford; note that Crescent Lake is north of Lake Monroe on the St. Johns River);

>Lake Talquin (west of Tallahassee);

>Lake Weohyakapka/Walk-in-Water (east of LakeWales);

>Lake Weir(southern Marion County);

>Lake Arbuckle (east of Frostproof);

>Lake Marian (southeast Osceola County, east of Lake Kissimmee);

>Lake Marion (east ofHainesCity);

>West Lake Tohopekaliga (south of the city ofKissimmee);

>Lake Kissimmee (east ofLakeWales);

> Mosaic Fish Management Area (southernPolkCounty);

>Lake Istokpoga (near Sebring);

>Lake Trafford (near Immokalee).

Steward points out that reports from local anglers, as well as data from trawling, electrofishing and creel surveys compiled by fisheries biologists, and knowledge of habitat trends all go into selecting these lakes. The list focuses on larger water bodies that have good access and can sustain more fishing effort, so even if your local lake isn't on the list, don't be afraid to try it. One of the best things about crappie fishing inFlorida is that you can find them in almost all of our lakes.