Crooked Lake sprawls across 4,000-plus acres beside Babson Park on the Lake Wales Ridge, with hills rising nearly two hundred feet off the north and east shores. Little Crooked Lake, its 670-acre companion basin at the southern end near Frostproof, carries the public ramp and the established passage onto the big water. When levels run high, the outfall spills south toward Lake Clinch through a weir. Since 1987 it has been a designated Outstanding Florida Water — Polk County's only one.
Clear, deep, spring-influenced Ridge water — Crooked fishes unlike anything else in the county. Genuine depth (the contour map on this page shows how much), sight-fishing clarity by Florida standards, sandy bars, and vegetation edges hold a bass fishery guides rank among Central Florida's best; heavy fish come off the offshore structure and deep edges, especially in the cool months. Bluegill and shellcracker work the shorelines; crappie find the deep basins in winter. The Ridge's elevation gives afternoon breezes real leverage over the open water — mornings are the gift.
Plain English Summary
| Outstanding Florida Water | Crooked Lake's OFW designation (1987) carries heightened protection for its water quality — clean, drain, and dry, and treat the clarity as the shared asset it legally is. |
| Largemouth bass | Statewide regulations apply: five black bass daily, only one 16 inches or longer. |
| Two basins | The public ramp launches on Little Crooked Lake, the southern companion basin — the established route onto the big lake for the regulars. Verify the connecting passage's current depth locally before committing a bigger hull; levels swing on the Ridge. |
| Full legal text | Official boating regulations → |
What makes Crooked Lake an Outstanding Florida Water?
Where do I launch on Crooked Lake?
Are Crooked Lake and Little Crooked Lake the same lake?
What's the history here?
Crooked Lake is Polk County's aristocrat: its only Outstanding Florida Water, designated by the Legislature in 1987 and never joined by another. Four thousand acres of clear, deep, spring-touched water lie against Babson Park on the Lake Wales Ridge, with hills off the north and east shores rising nearly two hundred feet, Webber International University on the waterfront, and pre-Columbian canoes in the archaeological record — the old name was Caloosa. This is the closest thing Central Florida offers to a highland lake, and it fishes like it: real depth, clarity that rewards lighter line and longer casts, heavy bass off the offshore structure, panfish along the shorelines, winter crappie in the deep basins.
The public ramp is on Little Crooked Lake, the 670-acre companion at the south end — one county/FWC lane at Keen Park Road, twelve spots, free, with after-hours launching allowed. The passage north is the regulars' commute onto the big water; sound it in low spells before trusting a heavy hull. Bob's Landing at Babson Park is the private alternative with tournament-scale capacity: $10, open around the clock, twenty-five trailer spots and overflow for two hundred vehicles. Afternoon breezes own the open water — set the alarm for morning.