The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is asking recreational anglers to voluntarily change how, when and where they fish to minimize stress and mortality among fish populations suffering from drought conditions.

CDFW is advising anglers not to fish past noon on certain inland waters as even catch-and-release angling during the hottest parts of the day can greatly increase fish stress and mortality.

“Many of our inland fisheries that rely on cold water habitat will likely be significantly impacted in the short and long term,” said CDFW Inland Fisheries Manager Roger Bloom. “California's drought cycles have required us to learn to manage fisheries with extreme variations in water flows. The last drought resulted in significant effects to fisheries that took years to recover from. We hope the self-imposed Hoot Owl restrictions by anglers will help mitigate those effects.”

Coldwater species such as trout, salmon and steelhead have the greatest likelihood of being affected by the drought this year but low water levels and high-water temperatures can potentially affect all inland aquatic species.

CDFW has introduced a series of voluntary angling recommendations – so-called “Hoot Owl” Restrictions – that directs anglers to focus their fishing during the cooler “hoot owl” periods of the day when water temperatures are lowest. A watchlist of specific waters anglers should avoid fishing past noon is included and will be updated as conditions change. Sustained afternoon water temperatures exceeding 67 degrees Fahrenheit for trout fisheries could trigger addition to the list.

Currently, the list of waters include:

• Lower Owens River (Pleasant Valley Dam downstream to Five Bridges) in Mono County
• Hot Creek in Mono County
• Mill Creek (Walker Basin) in Mono County
• Lower Rush Creek (Grant Lake to Mono Lake) in Mono County
• Bridgeport Reservoir in Mono County
• Deep Creek (San Bernardino County)
• Crowley Lake (Mono County)
• Truckee River (Lake Tahoe to the Nevada state line) in Nevada, Placer and Sierra counties
• More info

https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/cdfw-rolls-out-guidance-for-fishing-during-the-drought?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CA_ALDS&utm_campaign=CADroughtFishing_202107&utm_content=License-Button