If our winter didn’t end almost as soon as it began, it’s definitely over now. Thanks to some recent precipitation, the early emerging leaves and buds don’t seem so ominous. But don’t let that fool you.

The reported flip into an El Nino cycle bodes well for us, but it will take a rich monsoon season and heavy snows next winter to catch us up as far as water security is concerned. Ever up to the task, farmers will make the most of scarce irrigation water. Urban residents will embrace the importance of letting lawns turn a little yellow and not spraying sidewalks with the garden hose. As they have for generations, New Mexicans will rise to this challenge.

During this wickedest of droughts, anglers must understand that we have a role to play too, that we must recognize the fragility of our trout and steward them accordingly. As any cold-blooded creature, a trout’s metabolism mirrors its surrounding temperature, shutting down when the environment becomes too hot or too cold. This is not a problem in most circumstances; if its metabolism isn’t on, a fish doesn’t need to fuel it or do much of anything.

A trout in winter doesn’t need to do much of anything since the streams are usually protected by ice and unfishable. Not so in summer, when fish become vulnerable to a host of predators, mainly humans. Fortunately, summer is also a time when food is plentiful and trout have enough energy to escape threats. It’s also a time when streams run flush from melted winter snowpack.

In a year like this, however, there hasn’t been a snowpack to melt, and some streams have dropped to their pre-monsoon July levels in April. Lower streams heat up faster, which means that water temperatures will climb to extreme levels by the time July actually arrives, putting our precious trout resource at risk.

Trout are generally most active and comfortable in water ranging from 50 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. In water below 40 degrees trout have the appetite of rocks. In water above 70 or 75 degrees, trout are like dogs in cars with the windows rolled up. They will die.

Since lethally warm water is going to be common this summer, let’s follow these tips to avoid damaging the resource:
Buy a stream thermometer and use it (knowing the temperature helps in the cold season as well). Check the temperature in the morning and when you feel the water warming up. Above 67 degrees, stop fishing for the day or wait until the water returns to a healthy temperature in the evening.

Even if the temperature is below the cutoff, fish that fight sluggishly, are difficult to revive during release, or die on the line are signals to stop fishing. You are stressing these fish beyond what their body functions can handle.

If you practice catch and release, set a catch limit for yourself and quit when you reach it. If you’re catching fish after fish on a relatively cool day, consider that the trout you catch may be recovering from a hot yesterday or will need reserves for a hot tomorrow. There’s no sense releasing trout if they will die anyway.

Start fishing early and quit by noon. If the fish you’re catching are skinny, fish elsewhere. Conditions might be taking a toll on either the food supply or the trout’s ability to consume or metabolize it.

Pray for rain.