Water temps and fly fishing - do I have this correct?

[Darren N]

With the weather being warm and all the threads going on I took an interest for myself - bought a good thermometer - and read what I could on the internet. I live in Edmonton and mainly fish the NSR (of which I have had great luck this year) but do venture out time to time to trout streams and rivers in this province which encouraged me to get interested in this temp discussion.

From all the reports the main use of a thermometer for your average trout fly fisher person these points I have discovered.

- Watch for the temp and stop fishing around 70 degrees.
- Both temp going up and going down will change the feeding cycle. If on high end and going up it will be bad. If on high end and going down fishing should improve. If on low end and going up fishing should improve. If on low end and going down fishing will not improve.

Are these the main points to watch temp?

[MB1]

What did you get for a thermometer?

[Darren N]

Originally Posted by MB1

What did you get for a thermometer?

Fishpond brand. tested against a few things and was accurate.

[grinr]

Pretty much nailed it with your observations?
Trout fishing water temps are ideal in that 50-60F range....below 45F and above 65F they can get quite lethargic and not willing to move very far for a morsel,you almost need to hit them on the nose with yer fly in the upper and lower range of temps.obviously trout overwinter and can provide decent action thru the ice even,but the higher end of the temps,ie;70F+ is not well tolerated and that's when even C&R angling can become detrimental to salmonid survival.
Picture yourself running a marathon,your lungs are on fire,gasping for breath,lactic acid burning in every muscle in your body,and at the finish line some giant grabs you by the hair and holds yer head underwater for 3 minutes......that's what it's like for cold water salmonids to try to recover from a fight in warm water....not very pleasant.

[BigSky]

Also, a given temperature can have different effects on different species of trout/char. For example, 65 degrees is the upper limit for Bulls and cutthroat, while Browns can tolerate higher temps than other species.

Another important factor is flow rate. Very low levels, despite comfortable temperatures, can also be stressful for fish. It forces more fish into tighter quarters. When competing for prime lies and food, trout can get nippy and cause injury, which in turn causes stress and possibly disease can take hold more easily. Some things to consider when the thermometer would otherwise indicate safe angling.

[Darren N]

Sounds good. thanks

[Flieguy]

Different species have different temperature tolerances. 70 is friggin cooking for a lake trout, but a pike or walleye would be fine. Do a little extra research on the tolerances of the fish you're targeting and it'll help fine tune your fishing a little more

[Darren N]

Originally Posted by Flieguy

Different species have different temperature tolerances. 70 is friggin cooking for a lake trout, but a pike or walleye would be fine. Do a little extra research on the tolerances of the fish you're targeting and it'll help fine tune your fishing a little more

Yep I agree - I'm mostly targeting temp for trout in the southern Alberta river and streams and will use the 70 as a rule of thumb. I did find different websites and a few had different temp rules of thumbs. I assumed it was made by personal choice or different locations in North America? I did notice the pike and walleye were fine on most for 70. Couldn't find anything for goldeye though?

[Pikebreath]

Originally Posted by Darren N

With the weather being warm and all the threads going on I took an interest for myself - bought a good thermometer - and read what I could on the internet. I live in Edmonton and mainly fish the NSR (of which I have had great luck this year) but do venture out time to time to trout streams and rivers in this province which encouraged me to get interested in this temp discussion.

From all the reports the main use of a thermometer for your average trout fly fisher person these points I have discovered.

- Watch for the temp and stop fishing around 70 degrees.
- Both temp going up and going down will change the feeding cycle. If on high end and going up it will be bad. If on high end and going down fishing should improve. If on low end and going up fishing should improve. If on low end and going down fishing will not improve.

Are these the main points to watch temp?

You have got it. Direction of temp change is key to success.

One other thing to consider is average temperature range of the water you are fishing. High elevation headwaters and many tail water fisheries typically run colder than foothill and prairie streams. Bug life and fish activity tend to evolve towards the most common temp range. So a stream that seldom sees temps above 60 will usually fish best at temps in the 50s,,, whereas a prairie stream such as the lower Bow typically fishes well with water temps in the low to mid 60s during the summer months.

[italk2u]

Fished various points along Prairie Creek on Wednesday and Thursday. Water temps were right around 60F in the upper reaches and 63 in the slower, deeper
sections.
The browns appeared to be hugging the bottom of the holes but were receptive to anything that resembled a hopper. The brookies were in the tail ends of the faster runs.
But, while temps have gone down, so has the level. It is getting to the point where some of the runs are getting dangerously close to become trickles.

[Darren N]

I was in the Pincher area last week. Found the same situations with the water levels and the action. Unfortunately right at the beginning of my trip I wiped out and lost my thermometer I was just recently posting about and wanting to check out temps. Did a lot of walking as the rivers were low and holes were further apart which meant not much action between the holes in the runs. Still did ok but had to adjust. Used my sink tip a lot.

[Bushrat]

Along with reduced flow and high water temperatures don't forget that oxygen content also drops which is a large factor in fish energy levels and their resuscitation during and their recovery after being released.