{"id":20970,"date":"2026-07-24T16:22:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=20970"},"modified":"2026-07-24T16:22:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:22:39","slug":"yellowstone-fishing-emergency-grows-as-heat-forces-river-closures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=20970","title":{"rendered":"Yellowstone fishing emergency grows as heat forces river closures"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Visitors heading to Yellowstone National Park this summer will find some of the park’s best-known fishing rivers closed due to extreme water temperatures.<\/p>\n

In a July 15 announcement, National Park Service (NPS) officials from Yellowstone said the Madison, Firehole and Gibbon rivers would be temporarily closed to fishing until further notice.<\/p>\n

The affected rivers are all located on Yellowstone’s west and northwest sides, near some of the park’s busiest attractions, and the Firehole River flows through the Old Faithful area.<\/p>\n

HIDDEN DANGER AT POPULAR US NATIONAL PARK FORCES TRAIL CLOSURES AS BEAR SIGHTINGS CLIMB<\/strong><\/p>\n

The closures are in effect 24 hours a day. Officials blamed unusually warm water temperatures, which can be lethal to Yellowstone’s famed trout.<\/p>\n

“In recent days, peak water temperatures have ranged from 80 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit during the day,” the notice said.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Two<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

National Park Service officials said unusually warm river temperatures prompted emergency fishing closures to help protect Yellowstone’s native and wild trout fisheries.<\/span> (David Madison\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Coupled with high air temperatures, these conditions are lethal to trout, and there have been reports of dead fish in the Firehole River.”<\/p>\n

Officials added there are currently no heat-related fishing restrictions on other lakes, rivers or streams in the park.<\/p>\n

CAPTAIN HAULS IN NEARLY 500-POUND SEA GIANT AFTER GRUELING BATTLE, FEEDS MOST OF TOWN<\/strong><\/p>\n

The temporary closures will “protect the park’s native and wild trout fisheries and will remain in effect until conditions improve,” according to the NPS.<\/p>\n

Trout struggle to survive in exceptionally warm water because their bodies warm along with their surroundings, said Steven J. Cooke, a biology professor at Carleton University in Canada.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Angler<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Visitors planning to fish in Yellowstone this summer are urged to check current restrictions as warm water temperatures impact several popular rivers.<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Fish are ectotherms, which means that their body temperature is the same as the water temperature,” Cooke told Fox News Digital. <\/p>\n

“At high temperatures, trout struggle to obtain enough oxygen and may not recover upon release.”<\/p>\n

ANGLER EXPECTING A FISH PULLS UP RARE 700-YEAR-OLD SWORD: \u2018REAL TREASURES\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cooke, based in Ottawa, Ontario, added that anglers “need to get used to such closures, as they will become more common.” <\/p>\n

\n

Anglers “need to get used to such closures, as they will become more common.”<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“However, if anglers up their game and improve their fish handling by minimizing fight time and eliminating air exposure, then that will be better for fish and allow continued fishing,” he said.<\/p>\n

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We are seeing the same thing play out with muskellunge anglers in the Midwest, or Atlantic salmon anglers in the Northeast.”<\/p>\n

Cooke, who is on the board of the nonprofit organization Keep Fish Wet, said regulations like fishing closures “make more sense” in national parks, to ensure sensitive resources are protected.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep Fish Wet educates anglers on science-based best practices for catch-and-release fishing to maximize fish survival rates.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Group<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Park officials said reports of dead fish in the Firehole River underscored the need for temporary fishing closures during unusually warm conditions.<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

According to the NPS’s website, Yellowstone has long been a popular destination for anglers.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Yellowstone supports some of the world’s most famous fisheries and has been a destination for generations of anglers for over 150 years,” the site states.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Yellowstone<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

The NPS’s website says Yellowstone has long been a popular destination for anglers.<\/span> (Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Fishing regulations are designed to maintain native fish abundance and genetic integrity, the park’s overall ecological integrity, and a recreational fishery for park visitors.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to the NPS for comment.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Visitors heading to Yellowstone National Park this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}