Trout Fishing Tackled By Drought And Heat

As Western Rivers Run Low And Hot, Fish Are Stressed And Anglers Wait Every fly fisherman knows trout love cold-running mountain streams. So when rivers run hot, as they are now, it's no surprise that government watchdogs have closed down many Western rivers to protect fish for another season. Record heat, drought, and a diminutive snowpack across much of the West has led to water shortages, wildfire -- and now the closure of several rivers popular with anglers. Across the country, native trout are in trouble, as recent reports attest. Trout -- prized by sportsmen because they're beautiful, they fight and they're found in beautiful natural landscapes -- survive best in pristine streams, and those streams are growing harder to find as suburbia sprawls into the countryside. Even those untouched mountain streams that were seemingly out of reach of suburban sprawl can be emptied of trout by extreme weather conditions such as the West is experiencing this year. And those weather conditions -- hot and dry -- are expected to come with more frequency as the overall climate warms.