Ethical water temp?

1p_flyguy

1p_flyguy

Freshly Spawned
Here in Idaho we did not get the snow / rain needed to keep water levels up. I am worried this years summer heat is going to be harmful if not deadly to the fish in the treasure valleys rivers. I am of the inclination to not fish if the water temps rise above 80 degrees. Am i spot onnwith the temp or should i leace them be if water temps reach 75?
 
Our snowpack is below 90%. This is from Orvis. Everything I've read says 70. We get many days through the long summer when the water temperatures get warm, above 70 in the afternoons for sure. I carry a thermo, and am off the water usually before it even gets to 68 (20C), so fish have time to recover. Seems to work when following this protocol, I can find the same fish again later.
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Montana issues “hoot owl” restrictions whenever stream temperatures get above 70° for, I believe, 3 days in a row, combined with low water levels that commonly exist at that time of the year. This results in fishing closures from 2 pm to midnight. The thought is that water temperatures would be lower than 70° from midnight to 2pm. See further info here: https://montanatu.org/how-to-fish-responsibly-this-summer/

I think something similar would apply in Idaho, and elsewhere.
 
"It depends"

Good answers above 👍

Mixed bag and probably most times ethics should not be the driver. But yes if they're struggling generally leave them alone, plus not really sporting after a point. That said, most places would actually benefit from a reduction in stocks - call it subjective but they would. On another note, where I live they want all the trout gone by summer since they die off anyway. They don't like that I release everything, I'm probably the only one in the state who does but that's more about convenience.

No single temp - it's a variety of factors. In the end make your own judgment w/o breaking any laws or local posted COE.
 
Another factor is tackle weight. I can remember years ago the rage was really ultralight tackle to extend the fight. Excessive fight interval before release can build up lethal lactic acid concentrations in fish muscle tissue. Warm water further aggravates the problem.
 
regarding strictly trout, I tend to leave them mostly alone once the water hits 65 (pretty rare with the exception of a handful of places with desert redbands). Maybe I'm being overly cautious, I dunno...I also have a tendency to play them hard and fast.

For tiger muskies, I tend to mostly leave them alone once it hits low 70s. I caught one once where the water temp was upper 70s and despite a pretty fast fight, it still took nearly 20 minutes to fully revive it (it always takes some time, especially on the larger ones).

For bass? anything goes.

Carp? anything goes.
 
Probably worth being species specific for this conversation. Trout are going to handle warm temps far different than bass or panfish.

I don't do much lake trout fishing and no rivers/creeks that I fish around here get particularly warm. But if I had to put a number on it, I'd probably go ~60-65? For bass and panfish, as @clarkman said, anything goes as far as I am concerned.
 
And, of course, temperature ranges for trout are species and habitat specific (whether an easily accessible lower temperature refuge is available).
 
I fished the N/F Stilly one summer day when I lived in Washington. Down below the Lime Quarry hole. The water at that time was warm enough to have a warm bath. I was also wet wading. It's a good thing that the fishing sucked. Didn't catch squat. This was in August when the rivers were open for fly fishers.
 
48-69…on my local thin blue line.
Beers n cigars in the shade after the high temp. 😉
 
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