I've seen in numerous places recently references to a lack of fishing success when the water in a river or stream gets low at this time of year. I understand that low water warms faster, and that can be dangerous for coldwater species, making fishing for them inadvisable. But what about if the water temps are OK? And what about if the fish aren't sensitive to warm water, such as bass and sunfish? Here's my bigger question: Since there is less water in the stream, but the same number of fish, wouldn't that make the fishing easier? The fish are easier to find, the food is more scarce, and the fish's metabolism would be higher in warmer conditions, right?

I suspect the answer may depend somewhat on region, as different combinations of low water / warm temperature exist in different parts of the country right now. In my area of the country, the small mountain trout streams are low, but the water temps are pretty good as our summer temperatures have been very near normal with no extremely hot periods (yet). I was at a stream last weekend and the flow was just a trickle, but the water temp was in the mid 60s even at a low elevation. In my backyard warmwater stream, the flow is just a fraction of the annual average, but the water temperature is only in the mid 70s. I would expect to find concentrated, hungry fish in both environments, leading to good fishing.

Are we mistakenly associating dangerously warm water with low water levels when we say that low water hurts fishing opportunities, or am I missing something? What do you think?