Lake Talquin: 8,800 Acres of Crappie Water West of Tallahassee

Major and minor solunar windows shift daily with the moon’s transit. Fish the windows above, or check the Seasonal Playbook below for Lake Talquin’s current pattern.

Spring is the tail end of the crappie season that made Lake Talquin's name. Florida's wildlife agency puts the best black crappie fishing from January through April, during the prespawn and the spawn, and says trolling the deep channels, around 20 feet, pays later in the season. Every crappie under 10 inches has to go back at once. Bream come on as the water warms: the agency says fishing the shorelines can produce good days early in the season, pitching crickets along docks, points and shoreline cover for bluegill, or putting a worm on the bottom for redear sunfish, the shellcracker. Largemouth bass fall under Florida's statewide rule of five a day, with only one of them 16 inches or longer. No dated spring report is published for the lake that we can cite, so treat this as the agency's standing advice and not a catch report from this year.

No dated summer report is published for Lake Talquin that we can cite, so this section keeps to what the state agency says about the lake. It is deep for Florida, 15 feet on average and 40 at the most, and the agency's bass advice points to that depth: fish the deeper channels with deep-diving crankbaits or dark-colored Carolina-rigged worms. It calls Talquin the best option in the area for a trophy Florida bass, and the state's TrophyCatch program has logged 71 bass from eight to just under ten pounds and 28 from ten to just under thirteen. Bluegill take crickets pitched along docks, points and shoreline cover, and redear sunfish take worms fished on the bottom. Striped bass and white bass are both on the agency's list as excellent at certain times of year, though it does not say which months. There is very little vegetation here; the cover is stumps and logs.

Florida's wildlife agency does not give a fall pattern of its own for Lake Talquin, and no dated fall report is published that we can cite. What it does give holds across seasons. Bass: the deeper channels, with deep-diving crankbaits or dark-colored Carolina-rigged worms. Bream: crickets along docks, points and shoreline cover for bluegill, worms on the bottom for redear sunfish. The lake has very little vegetation, so stumps, logs and docks are the cover to fish. Seven public ramps and five public fishing piers are on the Leon County side off Highway 20, the agency says, with three more public ramps and two piers on the Gadsden County side, and six fish camps around the lake. Coe Landing and Williams Landing on the Leon side each have two launch lanes, and High Bluff in Lake Talquin State Forest has two on the Gadsden side. The bass limit is five a day, only one of them 16 inches or longer.

Winter is when Lake Talquin earns its reputation. Florida's wildlife agency calls the lake nationally known for black crappie, the speckled perch, and says the best fishing runs from January through April, through the prespawn and the spawn. Later in that stretch it points anglers to trolling the deep channels at around 20 feet. Every crappie shorter than 10 inches in total length must be released immediately, so carry a measuring board. The lake averages 15 feet and reaches 40, with stumps and logs for cover and very little vegetation. Three fish camps are named on the agency's page with phone numbers: Ingram's Marina, Lake Talquin Lodge and Whippoorwill Sportsman's Lodge, all near Quincy on the Gadsden County side, and each has a ramp in Florida's boat ramp inventory with a launch fee. No dated winter report is published for the lake that we can cite, so this is the agency's standing advice and not this season's catch.

Coe Landing

Tallahassee, FL

Parking

spots

Fee

Leon County landing, two launch lanes, no launch fee listed in the state inventory.

Williams Landing

Tallahassee, FL

Parking

spots

Fee

Leon County landing, two launch lanes, no launch fee listed in the state inventory.

High Bluff Recreation Area

Quincy, FL

Parking

spots

Fee

Lake Talquin State Forest, Gadsden County side, two launch lanes.

Pat Thomas Park (Hopkins Landing)

Quincy, FL

Parking

spots

Fee

Launch fee (Gadsden County)

Gadsden County park, two launch lanes.