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Highlands Today

Get Ready For A Near-Perfect Christmas Gift

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DAVE DOUGLASS

Highlands Today

Published: December 24, 2008

The weather conditions have improved, and we should have a warm partially cloudy Christmas with a south to southeast wind at 10 to 15 miles per hour.

Eastern and southeastern shorelines and structures will be holding fish in the usual hot spots and along established migration routes. Yesterday's east winds were stronger and should have the cleanest water.

All things considered, anglers will have a near perfect Christmas gift from God's weather system. Add to this gift the effects of the new moon (which occurs this Saturday at 12:22 p.m.) and anglers have every reason to try out those new reels and rods they got for Christmas.

My wife says all I'm getting is a bag of black worms, hopefully you'll make out better than I will.

The major daytime bite starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m. for the next four days. The peak feeding period will occur slightly later each - about 30 minutes later. Each day the number of feeding fish should increase and the duration of the feeding session increase as well.

If the winds let up and the barometer starts to drop, head to the lake as fast as possible - this might be the case on Saturday.

Fishing Flash

Lake Istokpoga has had small spot- and larger-area herbicide treatments along the north end over the past two weeks. These areas are easily noticeable due to the burnt appearance on the various targeted rank shoreline vegetation. It is very doubtful that fish will be feeding in these areas.

The lake management agency representatives continue to insist that these types of chemical treatments don't force fish out of the area. If this is true - and it may very well be the case - the point is not if fish remain in treated areas, but rather, will they feed normally.

I personally have tried to catch fish in known hot-spots which were recently treated, many times over the past four years on this lake and have never caught fish within treated zones, but did catch fish in the nearby non-treated areas which normally have not held feeding fish in the past.

It is a fact that the chemical used for treating areas which become overgrown with vegetation do not hurt fish, and there are studies demonstrating that fish don't leave treated area immediately after the chemical is applied.

But again, this is not the point.

The point is that the vegetation structure which the fish found most beneficial breaks down, dies and decomposes, resulting in unbeneficial habitat. If there are diminishing plants in the fishes' area, structure is greatly reduced, turbidity increases, and a percentage of oxygen is depleted while the plant dies. Fish sense this, and move to the nearest suitable healthy vegetative structure area, where the water column has less or no turbidity, more oxygen, and thriving plant life.

The key to fishing a lake near a treated area is to move to the upwind side of the dying vegetation - but since the wind switches directions several times in the week after the treatment, it might not be possible to find suitable conditions anywhere near the area.

The thing to remember is, fish will only move as far as they have to locate suitable habitat. Depending on the size of the treatment area, it could be a 100 yards, or one mile, which ever is necessary. If the area consists of smaller "spot" treatments, fish might need only move 100 feet upwind before finding ideal conditions.

The hydrilla in the south end of the lake - south of Big Island and Bumblebee Island - is slowly growing this time of year, and is not scheduled for treatments until April if it becomes to aggressive. However, with the below average temperatures so far this winter, the plant will not likely become a threat.

The hydrilla which is north of the Islands, is so minimal because of Aquathol treatments last month, that the likelihood of it becoming a threat is very minimal. The mid-fifties water temperatures combined with the above average turbidity throughout the lake due to regular herbicide treatment decomposition caused by wave action, will shade out the plant and halt growth and even cause a dying-back affect on the new growing parts of the plant.

The lake remains at 39.5 feet, which is the highest level allowed by South Florida Water Management. This too will cause hydrilla to grow more slowly.

All in all this lake will be in the best state since 2004-2005 at the start of the New Year and lake users should thank all lake management agencies for doing a very good job with a very challenging lake. Peak angling season is here and the majority of major plant management is done until the water temperatures climb back up into the 70s as a daily average.

Your Lake Manager's Contact Information:

Clell Ford, Highlands County Lakes Management Specialist - 4434 George Blvd, Sebring, Florida 33875. Phone: 863-402-6545, Email: Cford@hcbcc.org

Vicki Pontius, Highlands County Parks and Recreation Director - 4344 George Blvd. Sebring, Florida 33875. Phone: 863-402-6812, Email: VPONTIUS@hcbcc.org

Steven Gornak, Biological Scientist IV, Aquatic Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Sub-Section, Division of Habitat and Species Conservation - 3991 SE 27th Court, Okeechobee, FL 34974. Phone: 863-462-5190 (SunCom 761-5190), Fax: 863-462-5194 (SunCom 761-5194), Mobile: 863-697-6256, Email: steven.gornak@myfwc.com

Fishing Tournaments

The Monday Morning Lake Jackson Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public and launches every Monday morning at 8 a.m. with weigh-in at 1 p.m. Entry fee is $10 per boat with a "winner-take-all" payout. One person or two per boat, three legal (more than 14 inch) bass per boat, and one bass over 22 inches per angler. For information, call Paul Tardiff at 863-385-8007 (home) or 863-446-1310 (cell).

The Wednesday Morning Black Bass Fishing Tournament is open to the public. Next event is today on Lake Placid. Time: 7:30 a.m. to noon. Pay at ramp - entry fee $30.00 per boat. One person may fish alone if you do not have a partner. For information, contact Paul Tardiff at 863-385-8007 (home) or 863-446-1310 (cell), email bassbutchie60@aol.com or call Dwight Ameling at 863-471-3305.

Dave Douglass is a bass-fishing guide and bass tournament angler and CEO of S.O.S.-Florida Lakes, Inc. He can be reached at 863-381-8474, or e-mail him at davedouglass@sos-floridalakes.org.

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