Stone

Stone Lake is a 99-acre, class 30 lake, located near Victoria in Carver County. Test netting revealed a fish community consisting of black bullhead, brown bullhead, golden shiner, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, hybrid muskellunge, and white crappie. Winterkill is common during hard winters. Although Stone Lake borders Carver Park Reserve (Three Rivers Park), no public access exists. Stone Lake was stocked with muskellunge transplant fingerlings in 1991 and hybrid muskellunge fingerling transplants in 2000. Approximately 1,100 muskellunge fingerlings were harvested and stocked in area lakes during late fall 1991. The spring 2000 hybrid muskellunge transplant stocking produced no fall fingerlings, likely due to high white crappie abundance. This assessment was performed to update lake information and evaluate potential for future muskellunge rearing. One hybrid muskellunge measuring approximately 34 inches was sampled in a trap net. This fish is likely a remnant from the 2000 hybrid muskellunge transplant stocking. Future muskellunge rearing may be limited due to high numbers of green sunfish and white crappies. White crappie relative abundance (17.8/trap net) exceeded the upper quartile for class 30 lakes. Trap net caught white crappies averaged 7.7 inches with the largest specimen measuring 11.7 inches. Nearly 86% of the white crappie population was below 9.0 inches. Green and hybrid sunfish were present in varying numbers. 329 green sunfish (54.8/trap net), averaging 5.8 inches, and 47 hybrid sunfish (7.8/trap net), averaging 7.1 inches, were sampled by trap nets. Green sunfish relative abundance exceeded the upper quartile for class 30 lakes by a factor of 27. Golden shiner numbers (4.5/gill net; 2.8/trap net) exceeded the upper quartile for class 30 lakes for both gear types. Although golden shiners were sampled by shore seining in 1991, no specimens were sampled by gill and trap nets. Bullhead relative abundances are down from the 1991 assessment. The 1991 assessment revealed black and brown bullheads in excess of both state and local averages. Two gill nets in 2006 caught only 2 black bullheads and one brown bullhead. On the contrary, six trap nets sampled 107 black bullheads (17.8/trap net) averaging 9.0 inches. Trap nets sampled black bullheads with the normal range for class 30 lakes.

As a result of occasional winterkills prior to 1991, relatively few species of fish are present in Stone Lake. Black bullhead are the most abundant species present, but average relatively small in size (5.9 inches). Brown bullhead are also present, but appear to be very low in number. White crappie are present in above median levels of abundance, but they also tend to average small in size. Only about 17 percent or the white crappies netted measured more than 8.0 inches in length and only 1 fish measured more than 10.0 inches (10.7"). The average size for the entire white crappie sample was 7.2 inches and 0.18 pounds. Muskellunge are still present in the lake since it was used as a grow-out pond for fish to be stocked in other waters that have public access. To date, over 1700 fingerlings, yearlings and adults have be netted and stocked in other Minnesota lakes that are being managed for Muskellunge. At the time of this sample, the average length of these remaining fish was found to be 32.5 inches. This and subsequent assessments should provide some information on the interaction of stocked muskellunge with other species of fish present in the population. Central mudminnows and golden shiners were also sampled during this assessment.

THE FISH POPULATION IS TYPICAL OF A LAKE THAT HAS PERIODIC WINTERKILLS. THE LAKE IS PRESENTLY DOMINATED BY AN ABUNDANCE OF BLBS AND BRBS. BOTH SPECIES WERE SAMPLED WELL IN EXCESS OF STATE AND LOCAL MEDIANS FOR NUMBER AND POUNDS PER SET USING TRAPNETS. ONLY BLBS EXCEED ALL MEDIANS FOR GILL NET SAMPLING. BRBS EXCEEDED GILLNET MEDIANS FOR NUMBER PER SET, BUT WERE BELOW MEDIAN LEVELS FOR POUNDS PER SET. BLBS SAMPLED HAD AN AVERAGE RATE OF 7.79 FISH PER POUND, WHILE BRBS AVERAGED SLIGHTLY LARGER AT 4.72 FISH PER POUND. BLCS AND WTS WERE ALSO SAMPLED, BUT IN LOW NUMBERS. SAMPLED BLC EXHIBITED ABOVE AVERAGE GROWTH RATES. FISH SPECIES SAMPLED BY SHORLINE SEINING INCLUDED CENTRAL MUDMINNOW, GOS , AND FATHEAD MINNOWS. ELEVEN YOY MUE WERE SAMPLED DURING SEINING THUS INDICATING THAT FISH WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR HARVEST IN THE FALL AND THAT GROWTH RATE WAS ABOVE AVERAGE. GOS PROVED TO BE THE DOMINANT FORAGE FOR THE MUE FINGERLINGS (DETERMINED BY GUT ANALYSIS). NO OTHER FISH SPECIES WERE SAMPLED DURING THE SUMMER SURVEY. HOWEVER, FALL POND HARVEST USING 431 TRAPNET LIFTS RESULTED IN THE CAPTURE OF THE FOLLOWING SPECIES: GSF (1), PMK (1) AND WTS (2). BOTH SPECIES OF CRAPPIES WERE FOUND TO BE PRESENT IN NUMBERS GREATER THAN WHAT THE SUMMER SURVEY WOULD INDICATE, BUT STILL RELATIVELY SCARCE FOR THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT USED. WHC SEEMED TO BE SLIGHTLY MORE ABUNDANT THAN BLCS DURING FALL HARVEST NETTING. IT IS UNLIKELY THAT MANY OF THE CRAPPIES OR FINGERLING MUE WILL HAVE SURVIVED THE 1991-92 WINTERKILL.

Based on Minnesota DNR survey data, anglers target Hybrid Sunfish, Northern Pike, Green Sunfish, White Crappie, and Black Crappie in Stone. See the full species list above for catch rates, size structure, and quality scores.

We don't have a confirmed public access point on record for Stone. Check the DNR LakeFinder page for current access details before you go.

Stone has a maximum depth of 30 feet, per Minnesota DNR data.

The most recent Minnesota DNR survey data for the main sport fish in Stone is from 2006. Surveys this old should be treated with some caution — fish populations change over time.

Yes — Stone has confirmed Eurasian watermilfoil. Clean, drain, and dry your equipment to avoid spreading invasives to other waters.