I live and fish in the Ozarks, where most lakes are known to be deep and clear.  The recent very hot weather has raised surface temperatures to about 90 degrees, and Fish and Game is advising "catch and keep".  This is because a combination of the hot water and low levels of oxygen will cause the demise of stressed out fish when released.  I'm curious about how this compares to the situations in the shallow Florida lakes.

So they want you to keep them and ensure they die rather than release them and give them a 50:50 chance?

8 hours ago, OldManLure said:

So they want you to keep them and ensure they die rather than release them and give them a 50:50 chance?

Yes.

We have a very high mortality rate in the 'Dogs of summer"

The club I am in uses catch, weigh release during this time "July, August"

There is no reason why an individual could not keep his limit if he chooses, seeing creel limits are set with that in mind. We have one of our "trophy lakes" that does not allow organized tournaments during this time fram because of the impact and dead fish this time of year.

Most tournaments especially the larger ones don’t schedule any for July and August. 
It’s just too hot for both 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike 

2 hours ago, Ski said:

We have a very high mortality rate in the 'Dogs of summer"

The club I am in uses catch, weigh release during this time "July, August"

There is no reason why an individual could not keep his limit if he chooses, seeing creel limits are set with that in mind. We have one of our "trophy lakes" that does not allow organized tournaments during this time fram because of the impact and dead fish this time of year.

Ski, how high do the water temps get down there?

@Tackleholic Depends on the depth but the shallows see 95*