High temperatures in the air and water have the Wyoming Game and Fish Department worried. In an announcement this week, fish management staff shared that anglers fishing for kokanee during the summer months are encouraged to stop fishing for kokanee once they catch their limit of 4 kokanee per day and switch to fishing for and harvesting small lake trout. Eddie Carlson, Green River fisheries biologist, explains that “most kokanee, this time of year, are caught from in or near the thermocline, where water temperatures are around 45 to 55°F. Once hooked, they are fought up through the warming water column to surface temperatures between 65 to 75°F. Being caught and released in the warm surface water is stressful for fish. Pulling a cold water species like kokanee from 45°F to 65°F water is life-threatening. Their chances of surviving if released are low.” Anglers catching and releasing kokanee during the warm summer months is a recurring problem at Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
