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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is asking recreational anglers to begin “Hoot Owl” practices when fishing – voluntarily changing how, when and where they fish to minimize stress and mortality among fish populations suffering from drought conditions.

“Hoot Owl” recommendations reference being active during times of day when owls can still be heard hooting. These times are typically earlier in the day when weather conditions are cooler. CDFW uses the term “Hoot Owl” to describe its guidelines for fishing during a drought which recommend fishing before noon on certain inland waters, as even catch-and-release angling during the hottest parts of the day can greatly increase fish stress and mortality.

“California's drought cycles require all of us to work together to manage our fisheries,” said CDFW Inland Fisheries Manager Sarah Mussulman. “Multiple years of drought plus fluctuations in the timing of precipitation creates many challenges for our cold-water fish species. Anglers can play a part in lessening impacts to their favorite fishery by not fishing past noon during the hot summer months.”

Coldwater species such as trout, salmon and steelhead have the greatest likelihood of being affected by the drought this year, but low water levels and high-water temperatures can potentially affect all inland aquatic species.

CDFW has introduced a series of voluntary “Hoot Owl” Recommendations – directing anglers to focus their fishing during the cooler “hoot owl” periods of the day when water temperatures are lowest. A watchlist of specific waters anglers should fish before noon is included and will be updated as conditions change. Sustained afternoon water temperatures exceeding 67 degrees Fahrenheit for trout fisheries could trigger additions to the list.

Currently, the list of waters include:

As conditions change, CDFW will post the updated list on the “Hoot Owl” Water Watchlist page.

Elevated water temperatures, lower oxygen levels, disease, low flows and low water levels are among the drought-related effects impacting many of California’s coastal waters and inland fisheries.

To reduce fish stress during the drought, anglers can:

CDFW suggests all anglers follow these best practices even if anglers are only interested in harvesting fish to eat. Mortality may result from non-targeted species caught and released or fish outside of legal size limits that must be returned to the water.

Media Contacts: Farhat Bajjaliya, CDFW Fisheries Branch, (916) 215-5330 Leticia Palamidessi, CDFW Communications, (916) 708-8517

Photo: Fishing at day break. Delmas Lehman/stock.adobe.com  

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