Brian Upesleja casts toward the bank of the Hoback River as Luke Smith rows during an excursion July 15. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr/WyoFile)

During the dog days of summer, Wyoming residents take to the water to beat the heat and perhaps wet a line.

While people can cool off on the water, trout and kokanee salmon already are there and become more vulnerable when temperatures rise. Wyoming Game and Fish Department this week warned catch-and-release anglers that warm water imperils some fish.

Green River Fisheries Supervisor Robb Keith pointed to Flaming Gorge and the Green River as two places anglers should exercise caution. “With current warm water temperatures anglers need stop to catching and releasing kokanee,” Keith said in a statement.

Never miss a Photo Friday. Subscribe for free.

Dredging kokanee up from depths, where water is colder, to the warm surface stresses them to the point that they often die. Trout in the Green River also can be harmed by catch-and-release fishing.

“Trout experience significant mortality at prolonged exposure to water temperatures greater than 75 degrees Fahrenheit and brief exposure to temperatures over 80 degrees are lethal,” Keith said. He urged anglers to stop casting when they the water gets as warm as 70 degrees.

In the photo above, Brian Upesleja casts toward the bank of the Hoback River as Luke Smith rows. Upesleja began his full day of fishing at 6:30 a.m. on the Green River and topped it off with this evening float on the Hoback and Snake rivers.

Angus M. Thuermer Jr. is the natural resources reporter for WyoFile. He is a veteran Wyoming reporter and editor with more than 35 years experience in Wyoming. Contact him at angus@wyofile.com or (307)...

Leave a comment

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *