By Bill Sargent
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]lorida’s Lake Istokpoga, a 28,000-acre lake eight miles southeast of Sebring off U.S. 98, is becoming one of Florida’s stellar bass lakes for good reason.
In 2001, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) conducted a full-scale drawdown in an effort to rid the lake of a muck-laden bottom that had built up after years of water-level stabilization that eliminated natural water fluctuations during droughts and rainy periods.
Lake Istokpoga is two and a half hours north of Ft. Lauderdale and in the center of the state.
During the drawdown, more than half of the lake’s bottom was exposed to the elements for five months. During that time, a massive mechanical muck removal project scraped 21 miles of lake bottom totaling more than 1,300 acres.
By 2003, the scraped areas were producing eelgrass, a desirable native aquatic plant. And by 2009, quality fish habitat covered 33 percent of the lake, which exceeded the FWC’s expectations.
Photo flickr.
As a result of the new habitat and aquatic plant life, there was an explosion of the forage base, including grass shrimp, shiners and baitfish. And once again, largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and shellcracker had a desirable sand bottom for spawning.
The end result has been repeated successful year classes of bass and panfish supplemented with high growth rates because of the extensive forage.
Istokpoga now offers high yields of bass, among them trophy fish in the 8- to 10-pound range. This winter, a couple of 12-pounders were reported caught and released.
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