Stone Reservoir

[gstott]

I was just playing around with the Idaho Fish and Game trip planner, and I happened across a reservoir called Stone Reservoir west of Malad. It says it has largemouth, crappie and bluegill in it. I'm always looking for new warm water spots, so if anybody knows anything about it, I would love to get a pm. Thanks
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[duksnfish]

I think theres another post on this but, used to be good fishery of this kind but not in recent years, like atleast 10 that I know of. another resevoir that has gone to the canal companies and is always drained so low the crappie, bass and gills dont survive. To bad it could be a sweet panfish fishery and bass, but so much chemical and sediment from surrounding lands are dumped (run off) into it not sure id fish it anymore any how.
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[cpierce]

I hadn't fished Stone in quite a few years so I emailed F&G about it.
This is what I sent:

Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 12:20 PM
To: IDFGINFO
Subject: Stone Reservoir-Magic Valley Region

This message was sent from the IDFG website.

I am interested in fishing Stone Res.,

but I heard that Stone Reservoir was drained in 2008. Was it poisoned also? Were any other fish besides trout restocked?
Have any fisheries reports been done since 2008 that tell what fish are surviving there?

Are there any perch, crappie, or bass still in the reservoir? If so what are the numbers? rare to abundant?

This is what they replied:

Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 4:01 PM
To: IDFGINFO
Subject: RE: Stone Reservoir-Magic Valley Region

Dear angler,

Stone Reservoir was last surveyed in 2004. At that time fish species documented in the fishery included common carp, yellow perch, white crappie, black crappie, hatchery rainbow trout, and largemouth bass (see below table). Carp and hatchery rainbow trout (recently stocked) made up most of the catch in our sampling.

Regarding recent events at Stone: the short answer is that we heard a rumor that Stone had been either completely dewatered or at least drawn-down to lower levels than usual. This rumor was investigated in 2008 where we went to Stone only to find it had the usual amount of water in it. We did not sample the fishery , just inspected basic water levels. We have not “poisoned” the fishery.

We intend to sample the fishery this year to determine if in fact there was a major fish kill. We have a regular stocking program at Stone Reservoir (see [url "http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/apps/stocking/stream_nam.cfm"]http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/apps/stocking/stream_nam.cfm[/url] - Choose Magic Valley Region, select how many years, select “Stone Reservoir”) so we can tell you there will at least be this years stocked trout available. We receive very few fishing reports from Stone and they vary from GREAT to “What happened. In short, we truly don’t have a solid answer as to what’s currently available.

[center]SPECIES[/center]
[center]CATCH[/center]
[center]% CATCH[/center]
[center]% BIOMASS[/center]
[center]CPUE[/center]
BLACK CRAPPIE
[center]4[/center]
[center]0.7%[/center]
[center]0.2%[/center]
[center]2[/center]
CARP
[center]149[/center]
[center]26.8%[/center]
[center]38.7%[/center]
[center]75[/center]
HATCHERY RAINBOW TROUT
[center]221[/center]
[center]39.7%[/center]
[center]46.9%[/center]
[center]111[/center]
LARGEMOUTH BASS
[center]45[/center]
[center]8.1%[/center]
[center]10.8%[/center]
[center]23[/center]
WHITE CRAPPIE
[center]88[/center]
[center]15.8%[/center]
[center]2.6%[/center]
[center]44[/center]
YELLOW PERCH
[center]50[/center]
[center]9.0%[/center]
[center]0.8%[/center]
[center]25[/center]

If you have additional questions, please contact Doug Megargle-Regional Fishery Manager at 208-324-4359.
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[gstott]

That's too bad, that's certainly not what I was hoping to hear, but I'm not surprised either. The F&G website said there's no boat ramp there and I wanted a place with crappie that I could fish in my tube without getting run over by ski boats, but it sounds like it's not worth the drive. I guess I'll stick to the Preston area lakes. Thanks to both of you for your quick and informative replies.
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[cpierce]

There is a boat ramp there at the campground by the dam.

There used to be some water skiers in the section by the dam, but they don't go too far back up the res. because it gets shallower quickly.

I haven't been there in at least 6 years. We used to catch perch and trout in the area about opposite the boat ramp. In the upper part of the res. we caught trout and carp. We were looking for bass, but we weren't very expert at it, so there could have been a ton of them in there and I wouldn't know it!

I was hoping for a place to catch crappie and bass also this year. If I get a chance I will still give it a try. I think it has a deep enough pool that I don't think that they can drain it all of the way down, if it was drained. It may have just been a rumor.
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[cpierce]

Here is where the boat ramp is unless they have changed something.
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[gstott]

After reading some older posts I realized that there must be a boat ramp. I guess the website was wrong (it wouldn't be the first time). In any case, what I've heard isn't enticing enough to get me to drive out there. Let me know how you do if you make it out there though. I'm curious, but for right now I think I'll stick to the waters this side of I-15.
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