As summer fishing heats up, so do worries about fish health

Boat ramps sit in the mud, stranded like beached sea creatures. Algae bakes on the top of exposed rocks. And former fish spawning beds dry out in the sun.

It’s only early May, and the state’s fisheries biologists are already prepping anglers for a summer of low, hot flows, sluggish fish, and the possibility that some waters will dry up completely, especially in the state’s southeast corner.

This summer’s water forecast is so bad, in fact, that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department sent out a press release in April telling anglers to consider keeping the fish they catch within a legal limit in many of southeast Wyoming’s lakes. Hot water stresses fish like trout, which means the likelihood of one surviving after being caught plummets when water temperatures increase. If the drought persists, and we don’t get more water in the next few years, some of those lakes may not exist as fisheries at all.

Snowpack across the state, except in the far northwest corner, is below or even exceptionally below average. Little snow fell in the low country throughout winter and even less than normal in the high mountains. That combination has been brutal for streams, lakes and reservoirs. Then a heat wave, worsened because of climate change, struck in March. Temperatures in the 70s and even 80s quickly melted much of the snowpack that held on. Climatologists have reported this winter was the hottest and driest in recorded history.

While the effects will touch everything from mule deer and pronghorn to ranchers looking for water to irrigate, anglers will also feel the pain.

“It’s shaping up to be some tough conditions for angling across the state,” said David Zafft, Game and Fish’s deputy chief of fisheries. “But we do a lot of stocking in many of the places we’re talking about, so we can rebuild them.”

Wild fish populations, on the other hand — the ones that rely on natural reproduction and not boosts from stocked fish — will likely diminish in some areas, waiting for rain and snow to come.

Losing resources

Marce Vasquez has been fishing the Plains Lakes, a catch-all term for the series of lakes and reservoirs southwest of Laramie, for nearly 40 years and has never seen water this low in many of them. He tagged along with biologists recently to survey fish populations and found healthy cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout. But he worries if water levels keep dropping and summer heats up, many won’t make it to the fall.

“We’re going to lose these resources for your local fishermen and people coming from out of state,” he said.

And it’s not just the Laramie Plains Lakes. Water managers plan to drop Flaming Gorge Reservoir by about 35 feet over the course of the next year to meet the parched demands of states along the Colorado River. Colorado itself plans to drain and empty Antero Reservoir, one of Denver’s main water sources, into Cheesman Reservoir to limit excessive evaporation.  Colorado Parks and Wildlife asked anglers to catch and keep as many fish as possible, lifting all bag and possession limits, while the state considers possible fish salvage efforts.

Wyoming biologists have asked people to consider catching and keeping fish within the legal limits in places like Wheatland Reservoir 3, Lake Hattie and the beaver ponds on Pole Mountain. And biologists don’t plan to stock some smaller lakes and reservoirs where they would typically put species like trout.

What’s an angler to do?

For fishing guides in the Laramie region, the drought means asking clients to reschedule their June fishing trip down the upper North Platte River to April or May, said Thomas Berta, who guides on the upper North Platte and works at Four Seasons Anglers in Laramie. Much after May, with the limited water available, the season on that undammed stretch of river will be all but over.

“I know at least here [the drought] will have a dramatic effect on our guiding season,” he said. “We’re going to be limited on where we’re able to go to be able to float.”

When people call the shop asking for recommendations for where to fish this summer, he tells them high-mountain trips will be their best bet.

Game and Fish agrees. A fishing report sent out at the end of April outlines the dire straits of some waters but also points to bright spots around the state, including portions of the northwest corner that received somewhat closer to normal precipitation.

Try fishing reservoirs like Alcova and Glendo on the North Platte River or Boysen Reservoir on the Wind River. High mountain lakes will also provide plenty of opportunities.

But for anglers like Vasquez living in drought-stricken regions, low water means less time fishing the lakes he’s spent years learning and more time looking elsewhere. And he won’t be the only one. Anglers everywhere will be searching for lakes, rivers and reservoirs with enough cool water to safely fish. That means if someone’s favorite fishing hole happens to have water, they should expect to have more company this summer.

Nick Hogberg, a Game and Fish fisheries biologist in the Casper region, also asks anglers to pay attention to water temperatures. Once rivers and lakes really begin to warm, plan to fish mostly in the early morning. If the water is too warm, even trout released quickly may not make it.

“If you can tell fish are stressed, and it’s really hot, don’t think just because it swims away it’s going to live,” Hogberg said. “There’s a difference between swimming away and surviving.”

Biologists will likely begin asking catch-and-release anglers to voluntarily fish in the morning. If enough don’t comply, those fishing restrictions could become mandatory, Zafft said, as they often are in states like Montana and Colorado with more freestone rivers and intense angling pressure.

For now, as Game and Fish waits for more rain and snow to arrive, biologists also recommend using barbless hooks for quicker releases, don’t use bait for catch and release, and don’t squeeze the fish or place fingers in its gills. They’re all the same talking points biologists offer in the heat of most summers, said Hogberg.

“But this year,” he said, “The window of time when you could potentially hurt a fish will be wider.”