Valley Angler: Dog days

The “dog days” are here already. The hot days of summer keep trout and anglers in the coolest locations they can find. For trout, this means the spring holes and the deepest parts of the stream or lake. For myself, and my dog, this means sleeping on the couch in front of the fan.

Of course, it is possible to catch trout: however, the question is: Is it always the best thing to do? When water temperatures get above 67 degrees a caught trout’s chances of survival diminishes rapidly, and it becomes a moral question if it is even right to fish for them. My personal strategy is to fish very early mornings or late evenings, and I pick days when the air temperature is in the low 80s.