I looked at your stocking report, and I do not see that you have stocked Skein Lake or Box Lake in Valley county this year or last. What determines when you stock a certain lake? We went to Josephine Lake a few days ago and there are only minnow sized fish. Same with Loon Lake, do not see stocking going on and they are minnow sized as we discovered last week. It's hard to get excited about hiking Valley county trails when no fish are being stocked in several of the high mountain lakes.
Thanks for your time.
Answer:
Most mountain lakes in Idaho are stocked on a 3-year rotation unless we've documented natural reproduction at a level that could support sport fishing. That would mean Skein and Box lakes should be on the planting schedule for this August and September when we stock these lakes from our McCall Hatchery.
Recent drought conditions across Idaho have had an impact on many mountain lakes. With less snowpack some lakes we've historically stocked have gone dry or water has been low enough freezing has killed the fish population. Because we only visit individual mountain lakes about once every ten years, we count on anglers like yourself to provide us current information. Thank you for your comments. They will be pass to the local fish manager at our McCall Office.
Answered on:
Sunday, July 12, 2015 - 7:02 PM MDT