CHEYENNE —The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is calling on anglers to help protect Wyoming's trout populations by shifting their fishing to the early morning hours during the summer heat. Due to elevated water temperatures in parts of the state, the department has issued voluntary closures on some waters, asking anglers to either stop catch-and-release fishing after noon or cease fishing altogether. 

Unseasonably warm temperatures and low water flows across the state are causing stream temperatures to regularly exceed 70 degrees in the afternoon and evening, posing a serious threat to caught-and-released trout.

What Anglers Need to Know:

• Catch-and-release anglers — rise and reel: Focus your fishing between sunrise and noon. Water temperatures are coolest in the morning, giving released trout the best chance of survival. Please pause catch-and-release fishing after 12:00 p.m.
• Harvest-focused anglers: Anglers looking to keep fish for harvest within standard daily limits may continue to fish, as this practice does not involve releasing stressed fish back into warm water.

Why Timing Matters

Warm water carries significantly less dissolved oxygen, making it difficult for trout to recover after a fight.

• At 65 F: Anglers are encouraged to harvest legal limits rather than practice catch-and-release.
• At 70 F+: Catch-and-release fishing should be stopped entirely for the day.
• Above 75 F: Water temperatures become hazardous, and brief exposure above 80 F is often fatal to trout.

"We know Wyoming anglers care deeply about the health of these rivers," said Game and Fish Fisheries Management Coordinator Mark Smith. "By hitting the water early and wrapping up catch-and-release fishing by noon, anglers can enjoy great fishing while ensuring our trout populations remain resilient."

Tips for Protecting Trout in Warm Weather:

• Check the temp: Carry a pocket stream thermometer and check water temps periodically.
• Land them fast: Minimize fight time to prevent fish exhaustion.
• Keep 'em wet: Keep fish submerged in the water while removing hooks, ideally using barbless hooks.
• Harvest when appropriate: If a fish is exhausted or deeply hooked, and regulations allow, consider harvesting it rather than releasing it.

Signs detailing the voluntary afternoon closure are posted at major public access points. Game and Fish thanks the angling community for practicing proactive conservation this summer.

Visit wgfd.wyo.gov/fishing-boating/fishing-heat for a listing of impacted waters.

-WGFD-