Great story!!!

 

Great day, especially in August! It's typically one of my least favorite months of the year for trout fishing because most streams are so low. I look forward to fall fishing every year. Hopefully, we'll have more rain than last year.

 

I've had some excellent days in August in the past, but they are the exception.

 

Yeah for sure. The August of 2021 was exceptional in the East but we haven't had a good August sense. September for that matter either. At least not in the Eastern portion of the state. This is shaping up to be the worst of them all without change and there's only a week and a half for that so it'll probably go down in the books is the worst August in the last 5 years or so.

 

Last year a tropical storm roared through the central part of the state and caused some flooding. After the waters receded, I fished a few places that I never get to fish in August. It was nice to get to fish those places, but you don't it to occur because of a hurricane.

 

I used to turn off fishing for trout in July and I would come back around October. I would fish some native trout creeks after July, but it was unusual. I usually fished the streams that smallmouth bass inhabit. If I caught a stocked trout (July-Oct), then it was a great day. I think my personal record on smathmouth is about 20" and 5lbs or so. I never weighed it. I should have weighed my bull head catfish. It was 21 1/4" and I guess it weighed 5 -6lbs. I found out years later, that the record was 4lb 10 or 11oz. Oh well, I caught him, measured against my rod and I found out after I got home what length he is. Never weighed him. Never weighed my 27 1/2" native brown trout either. I know he weighed at least 10 - 11lbs.

Back then, I didn't know about water temperature and trout. Back then, I loved to fish and it didn't matter what type of fish I caught. I usually release them, except panfish once in awhile.

 

There are too many anglers who don't carry a stream thermometer. They're not expensive and every angler should carry and use one. Not only for the summer months, but they can also be helpful in any time of the year. In the summer, they're a must have.

In the summer, I take the water temperature before starting to fish. If it's 66, I will take the water temperature every two hours and leave if it hits 68 (65 on brook trout streams, but it's extremely rare for me to fish a native brook trout stream in the summer).

There are some streams that have signs warning anglers about water temperature.

There are quite a few misconceptions about water temperature (misconception in green):

1.) Warm water kills trout. Warm water has less dissolved oxygen that cold water. The lack of dissolved oxygen is what stresses trout and makes them prone to disease. Moving water contains more dissolved oxygen, so trout will often move to riffles when the water gets warm, if they can't find deeper water, spring seeps, or cold water tributaries.

2.) Shade instantly cools the water. I've had anglers tell me that they thought water in short shaded stretches is much cooler, even water that flows under bridges. Unless it's a very long stretch, the water doesn't have time to cool before it flows out of the shaded stretch. If you want proof, take the water temp at the top of a short shaded stretch and at the bottom. There will be little difference, unless there's a spring or cold water trib in between.

3.) You can tell if water is cool enough to fish by feel. How the water feels will be affected by the air temperature and humidity. If you're fishing on an 85 degree day, water that is 72 degrees will feel cool. 72 is too warm to fish for trout.

4.) 70 degrees is the lethal temperature for trout. That used to be the commonly held belief. Brook trout begin to feel stress at 65 degrees, while browns and rainbows begin to stress at 68 degrees. Trout can live in water that is much warmer if it's oxygenated. Trou will still feed, though less at higher water temperatures, but the extra stress of being caught can kill them.

5.) You should not fish for trout during July, August, and early September. Streams that are deeply shaded, have a significant amount of spring influence, or are located below bottom release dams often have cold water, even in the summer. I was berated on this site a year or two ago for fishing in the summer. He assumed that because all the streams in his area were in the mid to upper 70s, that they were throughout the state. It depends on the individual stream. I know of quite a few cold water streams, and as mentioned, use a stream thermometer to make sure they're cool enough.

One more note: sometimes in the summer trout can be seen bunched together where a tributary enters a stream. If you see that, it's a sign that the mainstem is already too warm and the trout are stressed, seeking out cooler water. Those trout should be left alone. If you use a stream thermometer, you will likely not come across that situation, since you'll know to leave the warm water.

 

I feel I have to correct an erroneous statement I made earlier in this thread. I said a year or two ago that I was berated for fishing in the summer by someone who assumed that because the water temperatures were warm in his area, so they must be warm all over the state. I went back and looked up the post and I wasn't berated, but was merely questioned if I had checked water temperatures because everything in his area was very warm. He also didn't assume that all streams were warm. Now, my post at the time listed the water temperature at the start of the day (60) within the first two paragraphs and I also said that we waded out when the water temperature reached 68 degrees, so the guy obviously missed that. But I wanted to correct the record and also to apologize for my errors.