But water temperature alone can’t be the only consideration. We have to consider other factors that cause our trout stress as well: are there habitat constraints that force trout into close proximity to other fish? Is there enough dissolved oxygen? How vulnerable are fish to repeated stresses of catch and release – especially on fragile cutthroat trout fisheries such as one reach of the S Ram which is only now showing signs of having bounced back after 16 years of catch & release? With prolonged, extremely low flows, how vulnerable to poaching or over-harvest are our trout? If there is a sensitive bull trout population such as that in the Sheep R, do you leave the low population of large fish exposed to repeated catch & release? An 8 pound Sheep R bull trout simply can’t hide in a year like this. Perhaps trout are visibly seen as stressed, moving to the extreme shallows of Prairie Creek to endure the extreme stresses of warm water and low dissolved oxygen as they have recently - we can’t simply fish the “cool” of the morning and ignore that they are stressed the other 80% of the day just because it isn’t “officially” closed.
We have to rely on the government directives, certainly. But we have to be good stewards of our resource. The choice to not fish even if there is no closure is a tough one. It's a personal choice of putting the needs of our sensitive trout populations ahead of our desires and wants. In many instances our waters are small with finite ability to produce trout. Many are sensitive fisheries under duress from sheer numbers of anglers, habitat issues due to forestry, oil and gas, agriculture, road construction, etc. That’s the reality of Alberta’s trout and grayling. Could the Gov closure system be better, more timely, starting back in June when drought and warm water conditions began? Yes. But we as anglers have to ask ourselves the question: do we need the government to tell us to do the right thing for our sensitive trout waters when it is patently obvious that they need a repreive?
Amelia & I deliberately chose to not fish several of our favorite trout waters out of consideration to the fish this entire season. It was obvious in early April this was going to be a tough year for trout due to low stream flows, higher water temperatures, low dissolved oxygen, and high angling pressure. We simply didn't want to add to the stress of angling pressure. This isn't a "Holier than thou" sentiment, it's born out of knowing our impact was going to compound with other anglers and we chose to not have that impact on those small waters even though there is nothing we love more than to fish them.
It may not be obvious to everyone that trout are suffering at first blush. Some won't recognize the signs, the indications. But once you understand the relationship between stream flow, air temperature, solar radiation into water, etc, it becomes quite obvious when trout are struggling. And once you do, resposibility kicks in.
On the next page I’m sharing my parameters of trout and grayling fishing for Alberta. It’s something I developed after watching the Alberta drought of 2002 and also in response to the annual New Zealand weather and water trends. Its ideology can be applied for trout anywhere really. My Alberta flow chart considers that bulls, grayling, and cutthroat (generally west of Hwy #22 and north of Hwy #16) have water temperature tolerances (18C) that are lower than brown and rainbow trout (20C) (loosely east of Hwy #22 and south of Hwy #16). Obviously there are exceptions but you can easily extrapolate those. It's not perfect nor official, but it works.
The flow chart will take you less than 1 minute to work through on any water on any day of the summer. It could save a few trout but please note: it will also keep you off water where fish are sluggish or doggo (ie: bad fishing). Its concept and applicability keeps me on vibrant fish, good fishing in cool water all season no matter where we fish. This is my #1 reason for success when trout fishing.
~ Dave Jensen