Lake Istokpoga in Highlands County was, is and, hopefully, will continue to be a Mecca for fisher people.

A popular site for both tournament and non-competitive anglers, this 27,480-acre eutrophic body of water, located southeast of Sebring, is now under the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission's (GFC) TEAM (Team Effort Accomplishing Management) banner.

GFC Biologist Tom Champeau, Istokpoga's TEAM project leader, rates bass fishing as superior, crappie output as better than average and bream (bluegill/shellcracker) activity just a tad below the .500 mark.

If everything is going along so well, why these intensive TEAM initiatives?

"Simple," says Champeau. "It's good now, and we want to make it even better."

Current plans for Istokpoga call for the establishment of a Fish Management Area and to optimize sportfish production and recruitment through expanded littoral habitat strategies.

Also needed is greater coordination by various government agencies as current water level fluctuations have been significantly altered from historic natural cycles.

Limited fluctuation levels in any freshwater environment will result in degraded fish and wildlife habitat as sediments, noxious weeds and nutrients build at alarming proportions.

Plans are already underway at Istokpoga to remove an abundance of tussocks, making way for the planting and expansion of desirable macrophytes throughout the lake.

TEAM meetings last July and August between the GFC, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Highlands County officials, and interested members of the public were held to explore methods for obtaining funds to control future hydrilla growth. Immediate and long-range goals for Lake Istokpoga include finding suitable sites for the installation of a public fishing pier, boat ramp repair, installation of docks at R-51 and R-52, plus work with DEP and the county to maintain access to all launch areas, fishing piers, and fish camps by using contact herbicides to control choking weed expansion. Early last year, Lake Istokpoga was treated with the chemical Sonar to knock back hydrilla growth.

According to Champeau, the project was "very successful.”“But,”.. he added, "we can expect the hydrilla to return in about three years, which will necessitate another massive treatment."

Sonar is a plant-specific chemical that works well and exclusively on hydrilla, especially in long-contact situations. "Unfortunately," Champeau explained, "Sonar is very expensive and we'll have to find some alternative funding sources to continue with these eradication programs."

Costs for the 20,000 acres treated last year totaled $2-million, or $1,000 per acre.

A lakewide treatment in 1991-92 was followed by the stocking of 125,000 grass carp, a fish that feeds on aquatic weeds.

Regrettably, the grass carp experiment proved unsuccessful, due largely to their migration downstream, and scientists are now back at square one in an attempt to find an effective and economical solution to a burgeoning hydrilla dilemma on Istokpoga.

Lake Istokpoga, which is fed mainly by Arbuckle Creek, has no headwaters, thus ruling out a lake drawdown, which could control weed growth and expose bottom sediments for easier removal.

"Compared to many other lakes throughout Florida, Istokpoga is in pretty good shape," Champeau enthused. "It'll be our job to see that it stays that way."