Yuji Sakuma wrote:

Hello Willi,

Around here, people are voluntarily choosing not to fish on vulnerable local
streams if the water gets too low and the temperature rises too much in
mid-summer. We also have a tailwater fishery which can be fished all summer
without compunction. Our closed season is from the end of September until
nearly the end of April, almost seven months, but even if it were open all
year, I personally would be inclined to leave them alone during spawning
season and in deep winter. I would like to be able to start earlier in the
spring though, weather permitting. A trout's weight loss over the cold
months is I believe, natural and not something to be overly concerned about;
it is probably analagous to a bear's weight loss during hibernation. Its
metabolism no doubt slows as the temperature drops and consequently it does
not feed as actively, even if food is abundant. If so, they are probably
harder to catch and not as much fun to catch anyway.

Most (all) of the Rocky Mountain states have no closed seasons (except
for some specific streams and rivers). Winter does produce some midge
hatches and you can even sometimes catch fish ontop. When the water
temps are very cold, the fish are what I call, "ice cube trout" and
aren't fun to catch. Most of the Winter fishing, at least in CO, are
tailwaters whose temps stay moderate. There the fish feed "normally" all
Winter.

I've never caught a trout during cold water temps that needed any
revival before releasing, but I have during "prime" times. I think
closing streams and rivers when the temps get too high would do more for
the fishery than closing them in the Winter.


Fishing in winter will
not do an individual trout any good


I don't think it ever does an individual trout any good!


because of the extra stress during a
stressful time but it probably will not do much harm on a population wide
basis - I reckon the fishing pressure would be minimal from October to March
and few fish would get caught anyway. There might be an additional reason
not to fish in late fall though - extensive wading could possibly disturb
redds.


I agree with this because it makes sense. However, the studies I've read
comparing populations on streams when they were closed during spawning
compared to when they were open, showed no difference. The redds of
Browns and Brookies are pretty easy to spot and avoid because they are
Fall spawners and during that time flows are low. The redds of Rainbows
and Cutts are often difficult to see because of the higher flows in the
Spring.

Willi