ran into a buddy yesterday who fishes every day of the week.

he told me the water in the river is starting to heat up and alot of the trout are starting to die off. I was always under the impression that the fishery is pretty much year round, I've caught alot of rainbow trout in the river from june-august. one of the best days I've had was in the middle of july.

he is a bit windy and I take everything he says with a grain of salt, but on the other hand he does know how to catch a fish.

anybody know the real story?

Mick?

They always start to die off this time of year, especially the ones as far downstream as Hueco Springs. There will be holdovers closer to the dam, and I just saw on Living Waters' facebook that they made a successful trout trip out there recently.

i caught trout yesterday. It just freaked me out to hear they were dying. said he was finding dozens and dozens. he was fishing towards hueco springs though

I've always heard they cant survive further downstream than hueco.

I've absoluetly murdered them in july around the 3rd crossing, which made me question that they were dying off

Trout live best in temperatures under 70 degrees. The water released from Canyon Lake stays constant in the mid 50s, so the stretch of water below the dam will sustain trout all year. And, depending on the flows, trout can live there year-round. But in those years when the flows are low, the stretch of river where they thrive can be pretty short.

The Guadalupe River chapter of Trout Unlimited maintains real-time water temperature monitors in the tailrace below Canyon Dam, so you can see what temperatures are doing at several points downstream. Here's the link to the page on the GRTU website that displays those readings:

http://www.grtu.org/monitor_template.php

As you can see, water temperatures in the river are currently OK for trout down to about mile 6.6, then improve a bit further downstream (probably due to springs coming in and some deep, shaded stretches of river).

GRTU also has a minimum flow agreement with the local water authority (GBRA), but that agreement only goes into effect in years where the lake is full. That hasn't happened in a couple of years. In those years, flows begin increasing in May and are kept high thru September (the range is 150-250 cfs, versus the current 90 cfs). In those years, trout can survive for miles further downstream.

About five years ago, with the minimum flow agreement in effect, we had a very hot summer, with temps in the 100s through September. In October (before stockings began), one of GRTU's members caught a 23" trout 14 miles below the dam. So we know the minimum flow agreement works, as long as Mother Nature cooperates and fills Canyon Lake.

so I guess just pray for rain and hope the lake fills up.

what would you guess % wise is the number of trout that survive into the fall?

Hard to say. Typically, there is only a small percentage of trout that survive any stocking, anywhere, at least according to the research literature. Probably under 10%, but that may include places with harvest. I haven't seen the latest TPWD shocking studies, but know they get in the river most Octobers and try to shock up holdovers for measurement. We do know we have holdovers every year, and especially in areas up close to the dam, say above the tuber's loop on Hwy 306.

best thing to do is if your fishing for them make sure the water isn't above 70. if it is keep moving closer to the dam till iys below 70

got skunked last september near rio and above for about 6 hours over 2 days. caught a few bream and smallmouth

At the lower flows of last year, Rio was about the lowest part of the river that could support trout. As the water warms, the warm water fish move in. Friends fishing the river last week said they were still finding healthy trout around the upper Hwy 306 bridge, near Maricopa.

i've been catching trout the past few weeks between 306 and the ponderosa crossing.

we used to catch them where the old camp beans property was in the heat of the summer, but I think the river was flowing better in those years

Good answer RIOGetter - check your temperatures.