BLUE-GREEN ALGAE — nothing active in 2026, as of 30 July 2026. DOH-Polk issued a health alert for "Tiger Lake – Center" on January 2, 2025 (sample taken December 18, 2024) and health cautions on April 18, May 8 and June 20, 2025, the last for "Tiger Lake – Near NE Shore" on a June 18 sample. Sampling has continued through 2026 — Center on March 17 at 0.73 µg/L microcystin, NE shore on April 21 at 0.88 and May 11 at 0.87 — but every 2026 result is flagged "I": detected at levels between the detection and quantitation limits, present but too low to reliably measure. Those are not exceedances and no advisory followed. Check DEP's dashboard before a warm-month trip. — check the current advisory source for updates.
FISH CONSUMPTION — none published for Tiger Lake. Florida's fish consumption guide (June 2021) carries no listing of any kind for this lake. Absence of a listing is not a clean bill of health — it means the state has not published limits for this water. Anyone quoting you a Tiger Lake meal limit is making it up. — check the current advisory source for updates.
Nothing on Tiger Lake. The nearest store we can confirm is operating in 2026 is at Camp Mack, The Old Florida Lodge, Marina, and RV Resort, 14900 Camp Mack Road, Lake Wales (863.696.1108) — on the C-37 connector between Lake Hatchineha and Lake Kissimmee, which FWC's inventory files under the Kissimmee River. The ramp is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with a published $6.00 fee and a self-serve pay box at the entrance. It is a trailer trip away, not on this lake.
Bait & Tackle
Not on the lake, and not confirmed at either of the two camps on it. Buy bait in Lake Wales before you tow.
Fuel on the Water
No marina and no fuel on Tiger Lake. Bud's RV Park & Marina carries "Marina" in its name, but the only description of it we have is FWC's 2009 survey and we could not confirm current operation or services — it is listed as (863) 812-7566. Lake Kissimmee State Park has a marina on the Zipprer Canal, but that puts you on the Lake Kissimmee side of the G-103 weir, not on Tiger Lake.
Fish Species
Largemouth Bass Black Crappie Bluegill Redear Sunfish
Connected Waterways
Two natural creeks do the work — no dug canal touches this lake. Rosalie Creek comes in from Lake Rosalie to the west; Tiger Creek leaves the north end for Lake Kissimmee as a marsh run, mapped by NHD as swamp and marsh, with airboat traffic. They form the Buster Island ring — the state's 10-to-11-mile paddling loop. No published depth says a powerboat makes it; call the state park at (863) 696-1112 first. The Zipprer Canal is no alternative: the G-103 weir has no lock and no boat passage.
Seasonal Conditions
No agency reports a stage for Tiger Lake, and the USGS "Tiger Creek near Babson Park" gauge is a different creek on the Lake Wales Ridge. The nearest readings — Lake Rosalie's one creek west, Lake Kissimmee's one creek north — are those lakes' numbers, not this one's, and the chain's low 2026 summer is not a fact about Tiger Lake. DOH-Polk issued a health alert for the lake's center in January 2025 and cautions that April, May and June; nothing is active in 2026, and this year's sampling found only traces too low to measure reliably. Check FDEP's dashboard in warm months; if the water looks like paint, keep the dog out. Otherwise: 2,086 acres and eight feet at the deepest, so wind moves it and grass grows through most of it. Spring is the spawn; summer means afternoon storms with no shelter anywhere; winter brings crappie. Alligators year-round; assume stumps where the chart looks empty.
Local Watercraft Rules
Plain English Summary
Black bass
No special Kissimmee-chain rule applies — statewide limits govern: 5 black bass, only one of which may be 16 inches or longer, with no minimum length for largemouth bass (as published by FWC, checked July 2026).
Zipprer Canal west of the weir
Motorized boats are not allowed in the canal west of the G-103 weir, per Florida State Parks, and the park maintains a wire gate at the Lake Rosalie end. Lake Kissimmee State Park: (863) 696-1112.
Airboats
Airboats run these creeks — FDEP's Buster Island Loop guide tells paddlers to watch for them "especially on Tiger Creek" — but they cannot launch from Lake Kissimmee State Park, which states that "air boats are not permitted to launch from the park due to limited space and safety concerns in the marina area." Polk County boating and airboat conduct is governed by County Code § 4.2-27. No lake-specific no-wake zone, idle-speed zone or horsepower limit is documented for Tiger Lake. That is an absence, not a permission — it means nothing was published, and posted signage at the camps governs.
Headwaters Revitalization Lakes
Tiger Lake and Tiger Creek are both named in Rule 40E-10.021(7)(g), F.A.C., effective March 10, 2021, as part of the Headwaters Revitalization Lakes, along with the Zipprer Canal east of the G-103 structure. That is a legal designation for water-management purposes; it does not mean the Corps publishes a stage for this lake, and it does not put Tiger Lake on the same regulation schedule as Lake Kissimmee.
No. Tiger Lake has no public boat ramp. Polk County's park system doesn't have one here, and neither does the state. The only launches on the lake are two small commercial fish camps: Camp Tiger, at 1731 Sam Keene Rd., Lake Wales, which FWC's inventory records as one concrete lane, no docks, gravel parking for about a dozen rigs, a flush restroom, hours of 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and a $3 fee taken by an attendant; and Bud's RV Park & Marina, at 1700 Tiger Lake Road, Lake Wales, recorded as two lanes with a launch dock, parking for about eight rigs, a flush restroom, hours of 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and a $3 fee. Of the two, Bud's is the better ramp on paper — two lanes and a dock against one lane and none. Now the caveat that matters more than any of it: these details come from FWC's boat ramp inventory, built on a 2009 field survey, and no live source verifies current fees, hours or operating status — neither camp has a working website. Call ahead before you tow. Bud's is listed as (863) 812-7566.
How do I actually get a boat on Tiger Lake, step by step?
Start with a phone call, and start it with Bud's RV Park & Marina, at 1700 Tiger Lake Road, Lake Wales — the only listed number on this lake, and it is listed rather than confirmed: (863) 812-7566. FWC's 2009 survey records two lanes with a launch dock, parking for about eight rigs, a flush restroom, 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and a $3 fee; every one of those figures is seventeen years old, so ask for today's hours and today's price. Camp Tiger, at 1731 Sam Keene Road — not Tiger Lake Road, whatever you may read elsewhere — is the other camp, recorded in the same survey as one concrete lane, no docks, gravel parking for a dozen rigs, 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and $3 by attendant. No confirmable phone number exists for Camp Tiger and neither camp has a working website, so treat it as a drive-up and have a plan for finding it closed. That plan should be Lake Rosalie Park, one lake west: a free county ramp with a concrete lane, a staging dock and a restroom, and the only free public launch on either lake. Do not substitute Lake Kissimmee State Park — its ramp is east of the G-103 weir and puts you on Lake Kissimmee, not on Tiger Lake.
Where do I launch if I want a free public ramp near here?
Lake Rosalie Public Boat Ramp, 2925 Lake Rosalie Road, Lake Wales — Polk County's ramp, one concrete lane, a staging dock, an accessible flush restroom, no launch fee, gate hours 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. It is the only free public launch on either Tiger Lake or Lake Rosalie. It is on a different lake, though the two are joined by Rosalie Creek, so whether it gets you to Tiger Lake depends on your boat and the water level — see the question below. Parks and Recreation: (863) 534-4340. The other public option in the area is Lake Kissimmee State Park's ramp on the Zipprer Canal, which sits immediately east of the G-103 weir and therefore puts you on the Lake Kissimmee side, not on Tiger Lake. The park charges $5 per vehicle for two to eight people to enter (that is the park entry fee, not a launch fee — there is no separate launch fee), $4 for a single occupant and $2 for pedestrians. The park also warns that "daily access and use of the boat ramp and marina may be impacted by wind-blown debris that can potentially block the canal and marina."
Can I run from Tiger Lake to Lake Kissimmee or Lake Rosalie by boat?
The water connects; whether your boat fits is the open question. Tiger Creek runs roughly two miles north-northeast out of Tiger Lake into Lake Kissimmee, and Rosalie Creek runs roughly two miles east-southeast from Lake Rosalie down into Tiger Lake — both natural, neither dug. Together with Lake Kissimmee they form a ring around Buster Island, and the state built its Buster Island Loop paddling trail on exactly that route. But no published source establishes navigable depth or clearance on either creek for a powerboat at any stage, and NHD carries Tiger Creek as a swamp-and-marsh area rather than a channel. Call Lake Kissimmee State Park at (863) 696-1112 before you count on running the ring in a powerboat. What you cannot do at all is take the short way: the Zipprer Canal between Lake Rosalie and Lake Kissimmee is blocked by the G-103 weir, which has no lock and no boat passage, and motorized boats are prohibited in the canal west of it.
Is this the Tiger Lake at Tiger Creek Preserve? Or the one near Tiger Bay?
Neither. This Tiger Lake is in Polk County, southeast of Lake Wales, between Lake Rosalie and Lake Kissimmee — 2,086 acres, GNIS feature 00295814. Tiger Creek Preserve on the Lake Wales Ridge is named for a different Tiger Creek (GNIS 00292272), a Polk County stream that runs southeast and ends in Lake Weohyakapka; it is not the Tiger Creek that leaves this lake, which is GNIS 00292274 and flows north-northeast into Lake Kissimmee. Tiger Bay is a state forest in Volusia County, on the other side of the state, and has nothing to do with either. Two Tiger Creeks in one county is a genuine trap, including for the gauge network — the USGS gauge "Tiger Creek near Babson Park" is on the ridge creek, not on this lake's outlet.
Is the blue-green algae still a problem on Tiger Lake?
Nothing is active in 2026. The 2025 season was busy: DOH-Polk issued a health alert for "Tiger Lake – Center" on January 2, 2025 (sample taken December 18, 2024) and health cautions on April 18, May 8, and June 20, 2025, the last for the northeast shore on a June 18 sample. Sampling in 2026 has kept finding traces — 0.73 µg/L microcystin at Tiger Lake–Center on March 17, 0.88 at the NE shore on April 21, 0.87 on May 11 — but all three are flagged as detected at levels between the detection and quantitation limits: present, but too low to reliably measure. No advisory followed. Check FDEP's algal bloom dashboard the week you go.
Are there fish consumption limits for Tiger Lake?
None published. Florida's fish consumption guide (June 2021) lists one entry for Lake Rosalie: bluegill, limited to one meal per week for women of childbearing age and young children, and two meals per week for everyone else, because of mercury. There is no listing for largemouth bass on Lake Rosalie, and no listing of any kind for Tiger Lake. Absence of a listing is not a clean bill of health — it means the state has not published limits for this water — but it does mean anyone quoting you a Tiger Lake meal limit is making it up.
How deep is it, and what does that mean for fishing it?
Eight feet at the deepest, over 2,086 acres. That is a grass lake, not a structure lake — the fish relate to vegetation edges, to the creek mouths at the north and west ends, and to whatever hard bottom you can find, and the whole thing turns over with the wind. Bass, black crappie, bluegill, redear sunfish and catfish are the basin's fish community; FWC publishes no forecast page for Tiger Lake specifically, so anyone quoting you a Tiger Lake population estimate is extrapolating. Plan for a shallow-water day: idle the unknowns, keep the trolling motor down, and remember there is no shelter anywhere on this lake when a summer cell builds.
Scout's Notes
Lake Vibe & Fishing Intel
Tiger Lake is 2,086 acres of shallow water southeast of Lake Wales, and the most useful fact about it is what's missing: there is no public boat ramp. The only launches are two small commercial fish camps — Camp Tiger on Sam Keene Road and Bud's RV Park & Marina on Tiger Lake Road — both described only by a 2009 FWC field survey, with no working website between them. The result is quiet water in a county with forty public launch sites, none here — local, seasonal, thin traffic. Eight feet at the deepest over two thousand acres means grass fishing — vegetation edges, creek mouths and wind — for bass, crappie, bluegill, redear and catfish. FWC publishes no forecast page for this lake; numbers quoted for Tiger Lake are extrapolated from Lake Kissimmee.
Call before you hitch up. Bud's, listed at (863) 812-7566, is the one number worth dialing — take its 2009-era hours and $3 fee as unconfirmed until someone answers — and Camp Tiger has no confirmable number at all. If the phone rings out, go to Lake Rosalie Park instead: free, one lake west, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and from there Rosalie Creek is roughly two miles of unproven water for a bass boat. For the Buster Island ring, call the state park at (863) 696-1112 first; by kayak it's the 10-to-11-mile loop, run counter-clockwise for the current on Rosalie Creek. Don't plan on the Zipprer Canal as a shortcut — the G-103 weir has no lock, and even the paddlers portage. Remote country — limited services and spotty signal.
Sources: USGS National Water Information System gauge 02268600 "Lake Rosalie near Lake Wales, FL" (parameter 62614, lake elevation above NGVD 1929, daily values through 28 July 2026, provisional), USACE Jacksonville District Kissimmee daily report r-kss.html (data ending 29 July 2026, ft-NGVD29), USGS/USEPA National Hydrography Dataset (Tiger Creek GNIS 00292274 and 00292272, Rosalie Creek reachcode 03090101017030, Zipprer/Rosalie Canal reachcode 03090101016770, Tiger Lake waterbody polygon), FDEP Lake Kissimmee State Park Approved Unit Management Plan (approved July 7, 2014), FDEP Buster Island Loop paddling trail guide, Florida State Parks Lake Kissimmee State Park amenities and fee pages, SFWMD Rule 40E-10.021(7)(g) F.A.C. (effective March 10, 2021), FWC Boat Ramp Inventory rows PO00009MU (Camp Tiger) and PO00064BS (Bud's RV Park & Marina) — a 2009 field survey, FWC Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Management Plan, FDEP algal bloom sampling and health advisory records for Tiger Lake (2024-2026), Florida Department of Health in Polk County advisories, "Your Guide To Eating Fish Caught In Florida" (June 2021v2), Polk County Parks and Recreation (polkfl.gov) and Polk County Code § 4.2-27.