warm water trout

[tstooge26]

Hello everyone,

I have a quick and question about warm water fishing for wild trout. This is the first year I focused mainly on wild or native trout. Like everyyear I switched over to smallies once the water warmed up. I have been very busy with work and I havent even had the chance in over 6 weeks to get to any streams. My buddy and I were trying to plan a trip to do some fishing and I was wondering if the trout fishing could be any good.

I know that stocked trout amost hybernate in water this warm but I wanted to know about the wilds. I was hoping to go hit some of the class a streams and alos a few small mountain streams we found to hold brookies. These streams cannot completely dry up since they are able to support the trout.

I will be north of pittsburgh and have only fished the streams up there in the spring. I have no info how cool or how low the stream might be.

Any info on how the wild trout react or survive in these warm summer months would be great.

Thanks

 

[jayL]

Stooge,

Fishing for trout when the water is warm is not good for them, and has a high probability of killing them.

Unless you can find some cooler streams, it's best if you stick with the smallies.

Please use a thermometer and do not pursue trout if the temp is at or around 70 degrees, unless you're planning on keeping everything you catch. With brook trout, most of the fish you catch will be sublegal, and will have to be released. In warm conditions, that equates to killing a decent number of fish.

 

[PennKev]

Deja vu.


You guys ever get the feeling that your stuck in an unbreakable loop?

 

[tstooge26]

jayL

hey thanks for that info i had no clue the warmer water could be damaging. just wondering but why is it so much more harmful to them.

so of these streams are small mountain streams, im not sure but I assume they prob stay pretty cool but im not sure

 

[jdaddy]

During the fighting process, a trout, like any athlete under physical stress, builds up a lot of lactic acid. The longer you fight the fish, the more the lactic acid builds up in its system. Once a fish reaches "acidosis," or a point where the lactic acid buildup is non-reversible, it is only a matter of time before it dies. Given a quick fight and release in cold water the fishes levels normalize quickly. In warm water it cannot do so and the lactic acid kills the fish.

 

[FlySwatter]

The best plan is to carry a thermometer and use it.

Also consider warm water does not hold dissolved oxygen as well as cold water does. So, low flows + warm temps = low oxygen content in the water. Of course, that's not great for fish but the situation is life threatening when the fish produce lactic acid during a fight on a hook.

Having said all that, there very well may be cool stream that are OK to fish. You just won't know until you get there so have a back up plan.

EDIT: jdaddy, you beat me to the punch. ;-)

 

[Chaz]

Trout are cold water fish and don't do well when water temps are above 68 degrees. Brookies are especially sensative. By all means catch as many stockies as you can, they won't make it through the summer this year.

 

[PatrickC]

The streams I hit in Potter and Clinton Counties 2 weeks ago were in the low to mid 60s. Check the water temp on Class A streams and use that as your guide as to whether it is safe to fish (as in safe for the fish). The wild brookies I target do very well in those cool streams in Summer. You'll need to do some home work to identify those streams. Many of the Class A streams that stay really cool in the summer are somewhat remote if you are not up for a good hike. If you don't mind working-out a little to get to the best waters, you can find reasonable water to fish for wild browns & brookies all summer long. But, again, as everyone (including myself) has stated, do what is right for the wild fish and leave them be if the temps are in the upper 60s and above.

 

[troutbert]

The small wild trout freestone streams can get warm too. I've taken temps of 79F on brook trout streams.

You have to pay attention to the weather and the flows. It's pretty straight forward.

When the weather is hot, you have more problems with warm water than when the water is cool.

When the flow is low, you have more problems with warm water than when the flows are up after a good rain.

A little while back, Potter County got a real good shot of rain. Someone who lives up there said they got 4 inches. The mountain wild trout streams were up and cool and the fishing was good after that rain.

But many other areas got little rain in that storm and still had problems with warm water temperatures.

Watch the weather and flows on the web and when an area gets a good shot of rain, that's where you want to go.

 

[tstooge26]

Thanks for all the help...i care about these fish to much to harm them. if the water is to warm ill just stick with the smallies

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Easy rule to follow. Do not fish for trout in any water with temps over 70 degrees. Second easy rule always carry a thermometer and use it before you fish. Tight Lines and Good Luck!

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

jdaddy wrote: "During the fighting process, a trout, like any athlete under physical stress, builds up a lot of lactic acid."

So what you're trying to say is that a trout is very similar to a fly fisher? Athelete under physical stress! What about the mental anguish? 🙂