4/9/16 Lake Istokpoga Battle of the Frogs!!

Capt. BassinLou · April 09, 2016, 08:25:14 PM

Before I begin my report I would really like to thank Fickman and his lovely wife Gail for this surprising and awesome invite to beautiful Lake Istokpoga. Bud you are my Frogging Brother from another Mother. Thank you for the laughs and the experience.

Conditons: Wind were from the North 15-20mph, Outside temps were low 60's to low 80's and water temps were 69.5- 73.5 degrees. Water clarity varied from 1ft to 3 foot visibility. The day was sunny with little to no clouds.

Al and I began our day at 7am, and fished til 4pm. Our objective today was to frog fish these fish to death and we did. Our trip literally began in front of Al's house and we fished the area for 15 min. The area was churned up from yesterday's relentless West wind so we decided to pick up and go to an area called No Name Creek. I will preface this part by saying that this is the most beautiful area I have ever fished in my life.

We began fishing the mouth of this Creek with a couple of blow ups but no takers. As we progressed further into the creek, I hooked up with a beautiful 4lb beauty.

She choked on the frog!!

As we progressed into this Creek the cover became more and more beautiful. At least to us, and if you are a real frog fisherman, please get ready for your heart to skip a beat.

From this area AL was able to hook up with a couple of nice fish.

After we fished this area for about 4.5hrs!! We began to make or way out of the canopy of the trees and back into some open areas. In one particular area I caught and landed a decent 16.5"

Next AL decided to cast to the exact spot I caught the 16.5" and this beautiful 7lb monster blew up on his frog...

This beauty choked the heck out of this frog...

Shortly after that we continued to work our way out of the creek when I hooked up again with this 19" beaut...

We continued to fish the area for a while longer but the fish shut off. We decided to make a run to West of the lake and fished behind an island for wind shelter. We each managed to hook up a fish a piece and ended the day with 10 fish.. We tied up with 5 fish a piece.

Looking back on our day, the fishing was fun and challenging... we had to work for all our bites. Al is great frog fisherman, and I learned a thing or two today, I am looking forward to apply what I learned on my home waters.

Parting shot....

Al... thanks again for such a great trip and for sharing with me your home lake, it's a special place for sure..

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Bud Kennedy · April 09, 2016, 08:35:08 PM

Lou, this is a great post. What a great day you guys had thanks for telling us about it and the great pictures. Almost as much fun reading about it as you guys had doing it.

MCS · April 09, 2016, 08:49:18 PM

Wow guys that looked like an awesome time. Both of y'all caught some great fish. That area looked amazing. Good for y'all

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Capt. BassinLou · April 09, 2016, 08:51:29 PM

I tried my best to capture how beautiful this area was. I couldn't stop telling Al how unbelievable this place is.

SFL BassHunter · April 09, 2016, 09:27:19 PM

Thanks for the report Lou and man it looks like you guys had a great time out there! Some nice looking fish! The scenery is amazing on that lake! Wow it all looks so beautiful! That creek looks awesome to fish!

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Capt. BassinLou · April 09, 2016, 09:36:26 PM

Quote from: rickdelprado on April 09, 2016, 09:27:19 PM
Thanks for the report Lou and man it looks like you guys had a great time out there! Some nice looking fish! The scenery is amazing on that lake! Wow it all looks so beautiful! That creek looks awesome to fish!

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Rick... you would have flipped out with that cover. Lol!! The only problem bud was one thing... trees.. there were lots and lots of cypress trees... rotfl!!

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ccr425 · April 09, 2016, 09:51:31 PM

Nice report. You guys had a great day from the looks of things! Glad things worked out for y'all.

rchiuz · April 09, 2016, 10:06:45 PM

Holy cow! That's frog paradise

great report. Another place to add to be fish in the future.

Trees are fine for Rick, he specializes in tree Bass

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big g · April 09, 2016, 10:57:44 PM

Great looking day Lou, and great company with Al as your guide. It just doesn't get any better then that!

Deadeye · April 10, 2016, 05:04:43 AM

A great read and Report!

Man that is the kind of Frogging Water a Frog Fisherman dreams about! That was some sweet looking water and glad it produced good for you guys.

Now Al needs to let his "guest" catch the big fish and not keep it for himself!! LOL.

Great job on guiding Al. That was one awesome fish!

Great job on putting some good ones in the boat Lou!

Canesfan · April 10, 2016, 05:57:37 AM

Looks like an amazing place to fish and the results show it. Congrats to both of you.

SFL BassHunter · April 10, 2016, 06:27:27 AM

Lou you gotta fish those trees like I was fishing them docks at Kissimmee! Skip that frog son! You learn how to skip the frog yet?

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jesterns2 · April 10, 2016, 08:27:40 AM

Nice report! It looks like you guys had a great day!

LgMouthGambler · April 10, 2016, 09:40:43 AM

Great report! What a beautiful place that is. The frog was a killer that day for sure. Good job boys!

Lipripper · April 10, 2016, 11:39:28 AM

Thanks for the report Lou and glad y'all had a great time and caught them nice looking bass. I would love to be back there in them frog waters

FlatsNBay · April 10, 2016, 02:07:06 PM

Nice job guys!

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Fickman · April 10, 2016, 02:36:30 PM

Thanks everyone! What a great day Lou and I had out there! The fishing could have been better but the time we spent out there was nothing short of a blast. We had a ton of good conversation, great fishing stories, and big time laughs, and as far as fishing, our UB man bassinlou, can hang with anyone, I can assure you of that!

It has been a while since I did more than 5 straight hours on the water, let alone 9 hours of almost 100% frogging! We both mixed it up a little bit, throwing the occasional vibetail, spinnerbait, and swimbait, but we never got a hit on anything other than our frogs! 5 fish each, not counting the big gar(cursed devil fish) that set his curse upon us at about 11:30! LOL! We went almost 3 hours without a bite after that beast tore up Lou's frog, and our last 4-1/2 hours resulted in just 3 bites and 3 fish for our final total.

I came up with a little competition to keep things interesting. 1 dollar wagers on 1st fish, big fish, and overall number. And of course we broke even there while Lou got number 1, I got big, and we both got 5 each. That figures!

I immediately knew I was in trouble when after our move to the creek for wind protection, Lou stuck that 1st fish, and it weighed 4 lbs! I'm thinking well there's #1 and POSSIBLY big fish too! Time for me to at least win the numbers bet. To say I got off to a slow start would be an understatement. I was even beginning to question the color(white) of my trusty frog! The same one that was given to me by UB member sirfish almost 2 months ago! I have caught A LOT of fish on that frog and yes, I have glued him back together 4 times now! Anyone that knows me well enough knows that 99% of the time I think frog color doesn't matter, as long as it's white!!LOL!

So Lou hooks up a decent fish on a pad edge, and as he clears that edge I figure why not? I basically hit the same exact spot with my cast and get absolutely exploded on immediately. As my fish clears the edge, I told him it looks like I got yours' big brother. Then the sucker starts digging in hard and I yell at Lou, no I think it's his mother! Now I'm thinking I have another hundred dollar fish, but not this time. And Deadeye you are 100% right. I actually told Lou right there that I wish that brute was quicker to the frog and he got it instead of me. That really would have made my day even better!

Long and short of it, just a great time. I have never seen a man throw anything as far, and backlash free as our man Lou does! I mean he is throwin 40 yard bombs all day, and me with my heavy spinning gear was just trying to keep up. I'm 15 years older than him and I swear I woke up dead this morning! But that didn't stop me from frogging for a few hours! LMAO!

flowerjohn · April 10, 2016, 03:36:50 PM

Great report guys. Beautiful pics of what looks like a beautiful place too. Nice fishes as well. Congrats to you both and thanks for sharing that. Cheers. J.

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LgMouthGambler · April 10, 2016, 06:52:55 PM

Hmmm...he threw his lure further? I wonder what reel he was using?

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Capt. BassinLou · April 10, 2016, 07:02:19 PM

Quote from: LgMouthGambler on April 10, 2016, 06:52:55 PM
Hmmm...he threw his lure further? I wonder what reel he was using?

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Haha... I knew you were going to comment, but you would be surprised I wasn't throwing the DC that much on Saturday.. lol.
When I saw the cover we were fishing I had to make a setup change, and the Curado I got called in.

gator4ever · April 10, 2016, 09:30:19 PM

That area of our state has the most amazing woods anywhere. The Oak and Cypress hammocks will make any outdoorsman stay on high alert.

Do you mind telling what frog you were throwing? I have been lucking for one to add to my arsenal.

Great posts, great fishing, great pics

Swede · April 10, 2016, 09:41:10 PM

Thanks for the great report guys - can't beat a day of frogging. Hoping some frog action works its way north to the panhandle soon!

Capt. BassinLou · April 10, 2016, 09:43:22 PM

Quote from: gator4ever on April 10, 2016, 09:30:19 PM
That area of our state has the most amazing woods anywhere. The Oak and Cypress hammocks will make any outdoorsman stay on high alert.

Do you mind telling what frog you were throwing? I have been lucking for one to add to my arsenal.

Great posts, great fishing, great pics

I was throwing a LiveTarget frog.

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tstone · April 10, 2016, 11:33:38 PM

That's my kinda day! Not much better than catching em on a frog!

Fickman · April 11, 2016, 05:36:19 AM

Quote from: gator4ever on April 10, 2016, 09:30:19 PM
That area of our state has the most amazing woods anywhere. The Oak and Cypress hammocks will make any outdoorsman stay on high alert.

Do you mind telling what frog you were throwing? I have been lucking for one to add to my arsenal.

Great posts, great fishing, great pics

I've always been a Booyah guy for my frogs. The pad crasher and the poppin pad crasher. As usual it seems to be a preference thing.