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Lake Talquin Florida Area Located just west of Tallahassee in both Leon and Gadsden counties, this 16,326-acre forest is made up of numerous individual tracts surrounding Lake Talquin. The forest provides many recreational opportunities including hunting, hiking, biking, horseback riding, birding and nature study. Examples of the slope and ravine forest communities are located on the west side of the Talquin Tract and throughout the Fort Braden and Bear Creek Tracts. Other examples of the natural communities found on the forest include flat pinewoods, swamps, sand hills and hardwood forests. From I-10 exit 26, go south on SR 267 and look for signs marking tract entrances. Contact: Florida Division of Forestry, 1214 Tower Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32304; 850-487-4250. Lake Talquin This 8,850-acre impoundment of the Ochlockonee River is located west of Tallahassee in both Leon and Gadsden counties. Lake Talquin, known as one of north Florida?s finest fishing lakes, can be accessed by taking SR 268 west from Midway for 3 miles and turning left on High Bluff Rd. for 3.5 miles to the ramp. Additional access points can be found off of SR 267. The FWC has built a fishing pier about 400 yards north of the boat ramp. Spring fishing is excellent for sunfish (bluegill and redear sunfish) using earthworms, crickets and grass shrimp. Fly-fishing for sunfish is also good during this time in the early morning and late afternoon. Largemouth bass fishing is excellent in the spring using crankbaits, plastic worms and topwater plugs. Live shiners can also be used to catch trophy bass. Good areas to fish for largemouth bass include the creeks and channels on the upper end of the lake. Speckled perch (black crappie) fishing can produce some good strings from November through February on live minnows. Lake Talquin is stocked annually with striped bass. Striped bass fishing is best in spring and fall using deep-diving minnow-type lures. In the fall, stripers can be found in large schools by watching birds congregate to catch shad pushed to the surface by feeding stripers. White bass also are found in Lake Talquin and can be caught on the small jigs and grass shrimp. |