BARREN RIVER NEAR FINNEY, KY

Water temperature for trout, salmon and steelhead

Federal guidance. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources publishes no water-temperature line for trout anglers that we found. The lines below are the National Park Service's, federal guidance, not a Kentucky rule:

• Stressful for trout. Water 69.1°F now; the highest in the last 24 hours was 69.4°F. At 68°F the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says rainbow trout “start stressing”, and the National Park Service at Grand Teton recommends that anglers “cease fishing at 2 p.m. when water temperatures are likely to exceed 68°F.” Its advice: “Fish early in the morning while the water temperature is cooler”, “Play and land fish quickly to reduce exhaustion stress” and “Keep the fish in the water as much as possible.”