Water Temperatures/Trout Streams

[WxGuy]

With the recent warm spell, be wary of how warm the water temperature is. If water temps are getting close to 70 or above, consider leaving the trout alone and going after something else. Trout have a hard time processing oxygen in the warmer temperatures, so they have a very hard time recovering after being released in warm conditions. Keep the fight short.

Some spring creeks in SE MN will not get very warm despite high sun and hot days, but most will get to around 70, so be sure to bring a thermometer with you if you are going after trout and be ready to reconsider your fishing options.

I hear the smallie fishing is great...

[Abrams]

I was out walking a stream in Western Wisc. on Saturday. It seemed very warm, I would say high 60's. The trout were bunched up and not very active. I'm done fishing until September. The trout need a break.

[so haaad]

Trout in SE MN are pretty lethargic right now, too.

[DEADhead]

Water temps on the Dark River on the Range in the SNF were warm as well. Fish were grouped in areas where the springs are.

It's been so dry that some of the springs that are usually active this time of year are dry...

[jbtwins24]

im happy to report that the trout fishing is probally the best so far this season. i took out my uncle from rhode island at 6 this morning and hit up two of my favorite holes around town. we pulled about 17 rainbows out of the first hole then about 26 more rainbows out fo the second hole. the dnr havent stocked this stream in about a yr. the water temp was low 50's. i think i might go back tonight to see if i cant catch any big ones.

[Ufatz]

Boy are you one lucky dude. But is that thermometer correct-seems like a mighty low water temp for this time of year. And that many fish from one hole? Wow. They sure must have been bunched up in there huh? I imagine you released them all didn't ya?

What were ya gittin 'em on?

[DEADhead]

I'm assuming with the water temps what they were and the amount of fish in those pools that you found yourself a nice spring fed area. That's the ticket in finding mid-summer fish in spring creeks. Look for the areas where the springs are and the fish will be podded up in there.

[jbtwins24]

i couldnt believe all the trout we caught in that one hole. we kept four rainbows then released the rest. i thought those trout would of been stocked but they werent, i never seen the meat so pink before. i was just floating a worm down the streams. i went back saturday during the afternoon, didnt think i was going to catch anything because how warm it was, nope again i caught about 15 browns in that hole the biggest was 16in and all was released.

[Rugbyguy]

All rainbows are stocked, they do not naturally reproduce in this part of the state.

[jbtwins24]

are ya sure because i know for a fact that these rainbows werent stocked. maybe you know more then i do about them. i just go out there and catch them.

[troutlandr]

My wife did some water sampling and testing this weekend on various streams in SE and at vaious points along Ole Miss. Whitewater in the park just behind the campground is running 12C (54F) and Beaver Creek at the bridge in the park is running 9C (48F). Colder than I thought they would be at this time. Gotta love spring fed streams.

[Rugbyguy]

It is possible that the rainbows were not stocked this year, but at some point they were placed in the stream. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the coldwater fisheries can back me up on this one.

[WxGuy]

Yes, they were stocked. Rainbows do not, and are not able to reproduce in SE MN streams.

No time to elaborate now...

[JohnS]

There are some "hold-over" rainbows. These are the fish that don't get caught within weeks of being stocked and may even make it through the closed season and into the next spring. These hold over fish start to act and probably taste more like wild fish over time.

[DEADhead]

Randy is correct that rainbows aren't able to reproduce in almost all of Minnesota's waters, Lake Superior being the lone exception. Even still, the numbers of "native" steelhead (or rainbow trout) returning to spawn are dwindling, and their reproductive success is marginal at times. I'm not sure why specificaly rainbows do not reproduce here in MN. It could be that conditions neccesary for spawning, that they have evolved to out west, aren't met here in MN.

[monkplunk1]

Catching trout @ this time of year is akin to shooting fish in a barrel. Not making a judgement of the ethics of trout fishing during extreme warm periods, however as stated above fish will school up around springs and are extremely vulnerable. I can also tell you steams arounf WW are no longer running a cool 54, although the accuracy of stream temp depends upon where you take readings - how near springs, etc.