Rattlesnake Lake Fishing Report near Lynn Haven, Florida

Crappie fishing at Rattlesnake Lake is great. Highly recommended,

Never fished this lake before but i have heard many many good things about it looked online to find it found two lakes in the same general area with the same name didnt find a boat ramp on either lake could someone tell me which lake is really rattle snake lake, and where the boat ramp is, one lake is right off of hwy 20 and the other is right off of greenhead rd inside of the Econfina Creek Water Management Area.

Found out the hard way that Florida does not like fishermen taking brown or rainbow trout from Rattlesnake Lake. Had a few tense moments with the man as we tried to leave with 5 fish apiece. Apparently there is no law on the books assigning a size or creel limit and since the fish are not listed as game fish, rough fish or even invasive or exotic the rules are not very clear. That aside, we did experience one of the best deep water trout fishing days we've had in a long time. We found the fish holding over one of the many deep water springs that boil into the lake and using a PK Flutterfish jigged down into the school we managed several good hook ups on brown trout, each of us taking 5 fat healthy fish, the biggest over 2.5 lbs. We also caught a few rainbow in the 10-12 inch range but released them back into the deep. Fish finder is a must have with the trout being the deeper fish holding over where the cold water boils out of the springs at 25-35 ft. depth in several spots throughout the lake.

Rattlesnake lake, one of the only two spots in the entire state of Florida that offers rainbow and brown trout fishing. A little known stocking program back in the 60's placed rainbow and brown trout fingerlings in 20 different lakes fed by cold water springs. Of the 20, Rattlesnake Lake and another just outside of Defuniak Springs hold catchable numbers of these fine fish. They do actually reproduce in these lakes by spawning over the clean sand and gravel where the springs gush out under the lake. Fall and winter seem to be the best times for fishing the trout and today was no exception. We took a small John boat out into the middle of the lake and cast small Panther Martin spinners into the deep dark water. Using 2# test line we allowed them to sink for a count of about 15-20 before beginning a slow steady retrieve just fast enough to get the blades spinning. The unofficial limit is 5 fish with a minimum length of 12 inches and only one fish over 20 inches can be kept. We managed two limits with 3 browns and 7 rainbow for a total of 10 for two of us. Not bad and one of the browns came in at 21.5 inches. All the fish have a beautiful orange color and almost salmon like quality to the meat. Going back again Monday so maybe we'll see you there.

One of the very few lakes in the state with a freshwater trout fishery due in part to the cold freshwater springs that feed the lake and the alkaline nature of the water. Rainbow trout appear in great numbers when conditions are right and there is rumored to be a breeding population of brown trout with some reaching into the 6-10 pound range. This lake and another in the area of Defuniak Springs are thought to be the only two with catchable numbers of rainbow and brown trout in the entire state of Florida. We caught and released over 10 trout in the 7-12 inch bracket and kept 3 14 inchers and one 18 inch beauty. Trout regulations for Florida are vague at best but as it stands the limit is 5 per day with a 12 inch minimum and only one can be over 21 inches. The best lures are size 2-4 Panther Martin spinners cast into the dark middle of the lake, allowed to sink deep and then retrieved just fast enough to cause the blade to spin.

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