JAMES RIVER ON US HWY 52 NEAR MANFRED, ND

Water temperature for trout, salmon and steelhead

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

• Under the federal 68°F line. Water 42.4°F now; the highest in the last 24 hours was 45°F. That is under the 68°F at which the National Park Service, at Grand Teton National Park, recommends anglers stop fishing in the afternoon (“cease fishing at 2 p.m. when water temperatures are likely to exceed 68°F”). Water warms through the afternoon, so check again later in the day: “Carry a pocket thermometer to monitor water temperature.”