Fly Fishing,    Environment,    fly fishing the upper sacramento river,    high water temperatures,    mccloud river,    Upper Sacramento,    upper sacramento river

Heat Wave Continues, And Water Temperatures Climb. When Will You Voluntarily Stop Fishing?

By Tom Chandler 7/27/2010

It's another 90 degree day in Mount Shasta - a good 5-6 degrees warmer than "normal."

In fact, it's been far warmer than "average" the last couple weeks, and while the heat feels good - especially after winter decided it was never going to leave - I am starting to wonder at the effects of sustained high temperatures on the trout.

Thunderclouds

For example, the water temps on the Upper Sacramento River (at the Delta - the warmest stretch) have oscillated between 65 and 70 degrees.

Trout tend to stop feeding at water temperatures much above 65 degrees (I've seen 68 degrees listed as the magic number), and 75 degree water is typically fatal to trout, who simply won't get enough dissolved oxygen to breathe.

Note that I'm not advocating anglers avoid the Upper Sacramento River; the Upper Sacramento and Lower McCloud are essentially tailwaters, so temperatures on the upper/middle stretches of both will remain nicely fishable year-round.

But what happens to the lower stretches of the Upper Sacramento - or my beloved small streams - if our current heat wave continues?

Upper Sacramento River Water Temperatures

I'm not sure, though I'm taking a water thermometer on my next small stream trip.

I'll probably discover temperatures are plenty low on the nearby small streams, which are running slightly higher than normal.

Still, if the current heat wave continues, things could get a little grim come mid-August. Will we come to the point on some waters where the Undergrounders stop fly fishing voluntarily?

Or should California Fish && Game follow Montana's lead and institute water-temperature-based closures?

Local fly fishing guide Craig Nielsen offers a surprising (to me) admission:

"I already closed my season on the Klamath River. In fact, when fishing for rainbow trout, I tend to stop fishing stretches of water when the temperature goes over 65 degrees. You get temperatures in the higher 60s, and the mortality goes way up."

Note that legislating closures would be difficult on waters like the Upper Sacramento, where temperatures vary widely over the length of the river. Close just the bottom five miles?

Unlikely.

Thoughts from the Undergrounders?

See you tapping the thermometer, Tom Chandler

AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

22 comments
See Chandler, I can tell by the nature of your over-the-top cry baby reaction that you're wrestling with the nature of torturing fish and other living creatures. Why can't you just help fish without sticking a hook in their heads?
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i guess i am very lucky to live and fish where i do . the temp in the streams i fish very rarely go above 60 degrees.last weekend i took a temp reading just for the heck of it .used a digital thermometer and it was 47 degrees
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Liar. Everyone knows ochra's way too slimy to choke on...
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Never decapitted a Rhubarb, but I've choked (on) Ocra!
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lm, I will have you know that I ensure the dirt around my radishes is clean and cool, just prior to tearing their heads off too. Ever decapitated a Rhubarb? The screams haunt me still ...
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Kind of a troll, aren't you? Tell you what - send me a picture of a trout with their head "ripped" off with a hook by a fly fisherman - who (btw) are one of the reasons there are any clean streams and trout left. Asshole.
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Our spring creeks here in IA stay pretty much a constant temperature. So while I am not certain, I would think the high temps would not have as much of an impact. I don't normally carry a stream thermometer so I can't say for sure. Besides, it is a 3 - 4 hour drive one way to the nearest trout stream so I tend to do more warm water fly fishing in the summer than I do trout fishing.
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I love the idea of worrying about temps but giving much thought to ripping a fishes head off with a hook? Not so much.....
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One benefit of living in the mountains is that it always cools off at night. I'll take that if it's all I can get...
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Have to agree.Temps rise and no fishing with a hook.I've cut the hook off a fly and worked the water for a strike before, and as stupid as it sounds, I had a great day. Doesn't sound stupid to me. "Stupid" would be fishing all day with a broken hook and not realizing it (I just thought I was a little slow on the hookset).
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Six homes lost, as I understand it, as well as part of a small motel I used to stay Read that account - seemed like pretty gripping stuff.
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It's been so hot here lately that even the smallies are getting sluggish unless you hit the river at night. Stopped to fish after work the other night and just out of curiosity pulled out my pocket thermometer and checked the water temp-82 degrees. Everything is concentrated in deep holes and shaded banks. Even the warm water species are affected when temps reach a certain point-especially in the ... more rivers and creeks. Not so much in the deeper waters of the lakes.
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I stop when it gets high. Usually the first time I see a fish really struggle weakly I quit. (I'm guilty of not paying as much attention to temp as I should) The good news here is that I have tailwaters. Sadly they're closer than the mountain fish I love best but they are trout and take dries.
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Today, I believe, it was about ten degrees cooler in Sacramento than Lake Tahoe. At least I don't live on the over-heated east coast.
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Smallies = big fun.
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I understand the water cools off pretty quickly as you gain altitude in the park. Then again, you guys really do have some kickass warmwater fishing. Ian's got a couple of smallmouth bass floats that are a ball...
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They might survive just fine, but that doesn't mean that fishing for them is a particularly good idea. As Nielsen noted, mortality rates go up in high water temps. Then again, rainbow trout need a minimum of 3ppm oxygen to survive - which is the maximum amount water can hold at 75 degrees. On rivers like the Upper Sac, the bubbly water in riffles becomes the refuge.
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Trout are the ultimate survivors in my opinion. Thats what they do, Survive. Everyday in a trouts life is combat. The temp. tolerance of rainbow trout is from below 32 degrees into the mid 80's with preffered temp. below 70. Lethal temps. depend on size of fish, rate of temp. change, and how well the trout are acclimatized. The trout are going to be ok !
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The lower elevation streams here in Tennessee are definitely on the warm side. As much as I would like to be chasing big browns on Little River, I'll be holding off until cooler weather. Right now I'm sticking to tailwaters or warmwater options...
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Have to agree. Temps rise and no fishing with a hook. I've cut the hook off a fly and worked the water for a strike before, and as stupid as it sounds, I had a great day.
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Well, I was going to go up to Kernville tomorrow or the next day. The last time I was up the water temps were around 68 degrees. Lots of fish, but none of 'em were playing. River is still up, but things are grim: http://www.kernriverflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1280180966;start=all Six homes lost, as I understand it, as well as part of a small motel I used to stay.
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We've had higher than normal daily temperatures here in the east for a couple of week's now; had 6 days in the upper 90's earlier this month. Major bummer for our local small and large streams. Pile that on top of no significant rain and it pretty much chalks up to a cruddy trout season... Ok enough whining...I've been exploring warm-water fly fishing (i.e. bass) lately. In my blind quest for trout ... more over the past several years I really forgot how much fun a smallmouth can be on a fly rod.
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