Do most stocked trout die when the water warms up or do they move elsewhere in large numbers? I'm looking for research about thi

[Hobob]

Do most stocked trout die when the water warms up or do they move elsewhere in large numbers? I'm looking for research about this topic, and if anyone knows about radio tracking studies or tagging etc.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

They feed less when the water is warmer because their cold-blooded bodies require less energy. They usually start to taste pretty bad too. Like a moldy old sleeping bag! Especially the big ones. It's a waste to keep them.

[allegnmtn]

The thing that kills trout is lack of dissolved oxygen. Warm water holds less oxygen. Ontario is correct too. When water temps rise above 70 degrees, feeding all but stops. The trout are also stressed so even catch and release can kill them.

Trout move naturally to places with more oxygen like riffles and into areas where springs feed into the creek. During a very warm summer here in PA, it's not uncommon to see dozens of trout holding in a spring fed pool.

[DakotaMan]

Many trout are stocked to fulfill the desire of fishermen for sport fishing. In Georgia, our state department of natural resources is pretty savvy about how many trout will be fished out of every stream each week of the year. They raise trout and stock the streams to meet that demand.

According to the management of our state hatchery, most of the streams they stock are cool enough but don't have the food supply to sustain a large population of trout. Therefore most un-caught trout will die within about three weeks from starvation.

Some do survive and remain in the stream for a lifetime though. The hatchery does an outstanding job of matching supply with demand so we seldom see a skinny trout or a dead fish on the bank... they keep the supply just a little under demand.

Conditions are different in every state though. In some, the water is too warm; in others, there are too many larger predatory fish to allow the fingerlings to survive.

[Solitario Lupo]

A lot of trout get caught to say they die in the summer cause the water is to hot for them is usually and old wives tale. Most situations lakes and rivers can hold most trout. Creeks if they can hold the water in the summer then trout should be able to live in it.