Newton

[JoyRide]

Has anyone fished the big pond of Newton? I was thinking about giving it a try but saw an article with no date saying it had been drained or killed off. Any ideas when this might have been? Has it recovered?

Don
[signature]

[KJFN]

Newton res. fill this spring for the first time is several years. In the summer of 04 the lake was less the 15 feet deep going into winter with very poor water quality. I have not heard of anyone fishing it since. If you go lets us know how you do.
[signature]

[PREDATOR]

I fished it this summer, there is definitley less fish due to the low water kill, but I still caught fish.
[signature]

[JoyRide]

Thanks KJ .... sounds pretty shaky for the fish. Might be a catfish or two that survived. I'll probably wait until next summer when the kid can swim while I get a line wet.
[signature]

[JoyRide]

what were you catching Predator? What size range?
[signature]

[fishnate]

It had a big, late summer kill in 2004 where all the fish took a big hit. Haven't heard of any musky or cats surviving. Only thing I've heard of being caught since is LM bass, bluegill and crappie. When I was out there in Sept. I saw very good numbers of small 2-4 inch bass.
[signature]

[Kraizee_Skot]

[font "Impact"][#ff4040][size 3]Man it seems just like yesterday when my uncle and I used to go there and catch some big cats. I hope it makes a great recovery. We used to fish for the cats at night and then wake up in the early morning and fish for bass. It was a great time, hopefully it gets like that again.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
[signature]

[KJFN]

In my earlier post I forgot to mention that the limit was taken off of all fish species for the summers of 2003 and 2004. I am sure the perch survived as well as some other species. I think it will take at least a couple of good water years for the fish come back. I have not heard of any plans from the F&G to re-plant.
[signature]

[PREDATOR]

I was catching largemouth. Fish nates right, there is a ton of little bass in there. It seems that be fish that did survive were big bass and without many predators to eat the fry there was a ton of small bass in there. Its kind of fun to watch the hordes of tiny bass follow your lure right to the boat.

I didnt see any pan fish, most guys fishing the shor with bait for cats and such were having no luck.

Looks like it may be a stunted bass fishery for the next few years until the pan fish catch up.
[signature]

[BearLakeFishGuy]

I fished Newton this past Memorial Day. I had high hopes even though I know there was a fish kill due to the low water. Any, I was fishing for bluegill and crappie. I fished my guts out and I think I'm a good fisherman on Newton Res. I caught one crappie and one bluegill in 5 hours. After I was convinced the fish were just not there, I took my boat and stood up on the seat and cruised the shoreline (even the entire "back bay" that was not overgrown with weeds at this time of year). After about 4 gallons of gas was used up, I can say I saw only two LMB, both about 15" long, and about 6 bluegill. No other fish whatsoever! Anyway, this spring the water was the highest it could possilbly get. The dam was spilling and I was able to get past the back bay and up the creek (Clarkston Cr.) about 1/4 mile or so. I am 100% sure the fish that did survive likely had some outstanding natural reproductive success since there were no predators/competitors (with the exception of "predator"...ha,ha!). Anyway, with the fast growth rates and lack of competition, Newton should have some outstanding bluegill/crappie fishing not next spring but the spring after. We just got to be patient and keep hoping for good water years in the interim!
[signature]