Crescent Lake Fishing Report – Fall 2022
Crescent Lake is located Southwest of historic St. Augustine, Florida. Situated to the East of the St. John’s River, Crescent Lake is a hidden gem for Bass, and Crappie anglers.
Crescent Lake is fed from the St John’s River through Dunn’s Creek at the north end of the lake and is subject to slight tidal changes every 6 hours, never more than 2’. Wind direction can also influence the water level. While Crescent Lake no longer has any submergent grass, the lake does have an abundance of cover for anglers from shallow water pads, reeds, kissimmee grass, cypress trees, lay-down logs, pilings, and docks to offshore structure such as brush piles, drop offs, points, and shell beds. Crescent Lake at its deepest areas reaches 25-30 feet deep but most of the lake is less than 10 feet deep.
Bass fishing can be fast and furious right now on Crescent Lake. A lot of the bass right now are moving to the slightly deeper, cooler water and Crescent Lake has an abundance of fishable deeper cover for bass. For the shallow water minded, focus on boat docks in 2-5’ of water as the tide falls to its lowest point. This will congregate all the larger bass on the ends of the docks with the last, deepest, and coolest water temperature for them. Lures such as fire-tiger or citrus colored diving crankbaits, or a Texas rigged junebug or black and blue worm will work the best. As the tide comes back in work your way back up the walkways of those docks that are close to deeper water. Lures like a 3/8 bladed Jig or Texas rigged worm between the pilings will yield the most bites.
During the late summer thru winter, Crescent Lake will see high water from time to time as a result of the “Nor’easter” wind pattern holding water in at the mouth of the St. John’s River. When this happens the bass on Crescent Lake will push extremely shallow and can be caught around large or isolated shallow cypress trees and laydowns with Texas rigged worms, bladed jigs, and topwater frogs. Bass can also be caught offshore in the fall months on Crescent Lake. In the 6-12ft depth range there are many brush piles, and shell bars around Crescent Lake that can hold trophy bass this time of year. Use your fish finders side imaging feature to locate these shell bars and brush piles and target those fish with a Texas rigged or Carolina Rigged Plastic Worm. Lures such as a lipless crankbait or diving crankbait work well around these shell bars. Many of these shell bars are located near sharp or steep drop offs within 300 yards of the shoreline.
As the Bass transition into the fall many of the fish will chase baitfish offshore and can been seen schooling around points and shell bars on 2-4” long baitfish. Target these schooling fish with Lipless Crankbaits, Diving Crankbaits, 3.8” soft body swimbaits, and topwaters. After these fish quit surfacing, they can still be caught in the area by fishing a Carolina rigged black and blue worm or a Texas rigged worm on the bottom. In the fall white birds can be an indicator of schooling fish in the area as the bass force the bait to the surface where the birds can see and follow them.
The Crappie anglers can have great luck around the pilings of the docks and boathouses during the fall months. Mid-October through early December are the months to toss small jigs, spinners and live minnows around these structures. Many anglers have success drifting along or trolling live minnows for these Crappie in the 10ft depth zone adjacent to steep drop offs or points. Trolling Small diving crankbaits can also catch these Crappie. Fishing windblown shorelines can be a positive this time of year.
All these lures can be purchased at the 333 Fish Camp Located at 100 Grove Avenue, Crescent City, Florida, right here on beautiful Crescent Lake. The 333 Fish Camp also has RV sites, Tiny Homes, Efficiency Cottages, Snacks, Ice, Live Bait, Rods & Reels, Pool, Boat Ramp, Boat Parking and Private Fishing Guides available.
