High temperatures and sparse rainfall have been the theme this summer, but people aren’t the only ones being bogged down by the heat.
Fish that make their homes in the rivers and lakes around Durango are being affected by the lack of rainfall, said John Livingston, spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
In warm water, fish have less energy and are more susceptible to stress, Livingston said. Low waters don’t help, either, since they heat up faster; as of Tuesday, the Animas River’s water level was flowing at 153 cubic feet per second, or 35% of the historical average for Durango, according to SnowFlo.
In past years with similar conditions, CPW would have considered putting a voluntary fishing closure on the Animas – a nonmandatory request for anglers to not fish during the heat of the day to help fish stay healthy, Livingston said.
“With the current conditions, we would typically be looking at issuing voluntary fishing closures,” Livingston said. “It’s basically just a notice to ask anglers not to fish during the heat of the day. Anytime you’re reeling in a fish or catching a fish on a fly rod, it causes the fish a little bit of stress and can sometimes lead to mortality in a trout.”
But, Livingston said, CPW has not needed to issue a fishing closure in 2025. That is because local anglers and fishing outfitters have already stopped fishing during the hottest parts of the day. What’s more, he said, is that recent research from CPW suggests that fish self-regulate, meaning they are not as active during the hot periods.
“We haven’t put out a voluntary fish enclosure this year,” Livingston said. “We expect the fish to self-regulate, but also – to credit the angling community that we have here, who are avoiding those warmer hours anyway.”
Tom Knopick, co-owner of Duranglers, said his company has stopped running guided fishing trips during the heat of the day to help preserve the health of the fish in the Animas. As a rule, he said, Duranglers stops fishing around noon, when water temperatures rise to 65 degrees.
“When those water temperatures increase in the afternoon, it’s best to leave them alone,” Knopick said. “At the same time, the fish are not happy about being warmer. They just want to go and kind of find a place in the shade and wait for the temperatures to drop. So after 12, it’s not a good time to be fishing, and it’s not a good time to be catching them.”
Cole Glenn, owner of San Juan Anglers, is also running only morning trips to help preserve the health of the fish. But if someone were to choose to fish in the hottest parts of the afternoon and end up reeling in a fish, they should take extra time to keep the fish in the water and make sure it swims away on its own. Taking pictures with a freshly caught fish out of the water – which he called “grip and grins” – can harm the fish in warm conditions, he said, and advised against taking pictures at all.
“Try to keep the fish in the water and in your net,” Glenn said. “Keep the fish wet. Try to let them go as quickly as possible and not to handle them as much as you can. And if you do need to revive a fish, do your best to revive them until they swim off pretty strongly on their own.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
