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Highlands Today

Dual Opportunities For Good Fishing

Courtesy photo

Joe and Brandon Medlockshow off the type of catches that are possible on Lake Istokpoga in the winter.

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Dave Douglass

Published: December 28, 2007

The more opportune times to have success on the water are very early and very late in the day. There is still an early morning bite because of the affect of the Full Moon which happened at 1:16 a.m. last Sunday night, causing the major feeding migration to occur in the middle of the night.

Now, this is a very large intense migration at this time, meaning there are very good chances that if you're out on the water very early — 6 a.m. — you're best chances of boating your largest fish of the day are good, but still not great.

Each day a secondary migration starts to develop and by the weekend, will offer as good a percentage as the early morning session. From 4 to 7 p.m. should produce moderate to good results today and gain in potential every day until Monday, when it becomes mostly a nighttime session.

Fishing Facts

Because of the drought situation here in Florida, many of the lakes are lower than usual, I believe this has been firmly established in our minds, however, to think that fishing suffers is a huge mistake because just the opposite is true. Now is the time to get out on the lake especially during the bass spawning season.
The Florida Largemouth Bass in many cases will not be able to access their usual areas and therefore search out new areas in the same general area.

On a lake like Istokpoga, bass fishing is at its best right now. This is the time to be out on this excellent lake.

From now until June the best "Big Bass" lake in Florida is Lake Istokpoga. There are a few other lakes which do produce "Trophy Bass" but none as often, nor as big.

As the lake level declines month by month, little by little, the success ratio increases for the Bass angler because of this seasonal lake level management policy.

You might disagree with the policy, but by all means, don't let this change your mind about fishing the lake. A few things to remember when the spillway is open, bass follow along with the food chain, which is influenced by any current in the lake, therefore, many of the larger bass will end up in the south end of the lake. When bass migrate in this manner they reside in the healthiest thickest highly oxygenated vegetation areas they can. In this case we're talking, hydrilla and lots of it, like an estimated 6,500 acres worth of bass paradise.

There are many fish camps on the lake and Cypress Isle on the south end has the best lake access ramp when the water is lower, and to boot they are the closest to some of the best trophy bass areas. When every other boat ramp is unusable, I will be putting my boat in there without a doubt.

Fishing Report

Lake Istokpoga bass fishing and angling is in full swing right now. For the next four months you can't ask for a better lake to spend your money and time on.

The odds are clearly in the Bass angler's favor now, so with a little effort in learning the lake bottom structural routes, the hydrilla growth habits in the various areas known for seasonal growth, you'll be boating some of the largest, if not "The Largest" bass of your lifetime.

News for Flippers and Pitchers — "Move to the hydrilla and get out of the Bulrush and Cattails." If you don't learn to work the thick thriving weed correctly, you are missing out. Here's a late Christmas gift which you should make your New Years resolution — work the hydrilla with a Carolina Rig very slowly where the lake-bottom-drop transitions are.

The key here is to get the rig stuck in the evasive weed and work it out without causing a commotion, I mean "Very Slowly" in order to draw the larger bass over to that area to investigate what's happening. The majority of bass last year bedded in these areas, so patience is of the essence.

Dave Douglass is a bass fishing guide and teacher, bass tournament fisherman and also an officer of S.O.S.-Florida Lakes, Inc. You can reach him at (863) 381-8474, e-mail davedouglass@sos-floridalakes.org or visit the Web sites reds-bass-fishing-guides.com and sos-floridalakes.org/.

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