Fishing

Been doing some research, anticipating the high mountain trails to open up in a few months so I can access some of those Uinta lakes. That's when I got to thinking about golden trout again. Some say there are still a few in the Atwood Creek area, but others say they have disappeared or hybridized out with the bows. I have yet to hear of a tale of someone actually catching one of these rare jewels. I doubt they have been stocked within the last several years, which is a shame. The Utah record was 14 oz. caught in the 1970's or so. They're all about them in the Wind River range in Wyoming, where they get fish up to several pounds, and have a record of 11 pounds.

Here's a pic of a typical Golden trout:


This one below was supposedly caught in Utah recently, but I can't verify it.


Here's a Wyoming whopper:


"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." ~John Buchan

I have a friend who found some above Smith and Morehouse some where. I will try and find out where he lives now and ask him where it was. This was only a summer ago. He said they were trying to find grayling. but stumbled upon the goldens.




LDS BFT at its finest!
What a joke!

That fish is rad looking. Too bad its so small in Utah!
_____________________________
Esox: Cause everything else you catch is just bait.

Please PM me about the goldens if your friend is willing to let me know where and how he caught them.

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." ~John Buchan

I've tried to catch goldens a few times the last couple years in Utah. From what I read and others told me of catching them about 5 years ago I thought Echo Lake in the Murdock Basin was the best chance. The few short outings there only produced brookies. Not to say if you spent more time they couldn't be there still. However I don't know of any one catching them there in the last couple years. Lots of people call trout goldens that aren't goldens but maybe LH2 friend stumbled onto some. If that doesn't work head up to the Wind River Range in Wyoming. One of these years I think I'll take my son to the Golden Trout wilderness area (or whatever it's called) in California and try to catch some in their native range.
Men think that they own the water they use. You might as well claim [the] air.... to say that you own the water.
- Mr Murdock
The Utah Constitution recognized and confirms the public's ownership of Utah Waters.
-Judge Derek P. Pullan, Fourth District Court, 21 Day of May 2012

I say head to the winds. Two hours extra driving and you are most likely going to catch them vs. wandering around for days for a very small chance at them. From all I have heard, the water listed is where they are but no one I know can catch them here. Good luck on your quest.

Gotta love Utah... So much good fishing, so little time!

I caught these this last summer up in the cottonwood lakes area in bishop/mammoth california. About a 6 mile hike in but the quality of the goldens was better than expected, especially for an overpopulated/overfished california. I am hoping for a Wind Rivers trip this next fall.

I can'T answer the Utah ? but the Wind Rivers you are going to put in some serious miles- to get into Golden Country- the Indian res side has some very good lakes- you are also going to pay them some good money to get to and fish them.

Wow those are pretty fish! I know they are a subspecies of rainbow trout, but to me some of them (like yours) also look like cutts with a bright gold coloring. That's probably why people sometimes catch a brightly colored cutt and think they are golden trout, or they catch an albino rainbow and make the same mistake. Obviously though, yours are the real thing. When you see a full blooded golden there isn't any mistaking them. Wish I was there.

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." ~John Buchan

How long of hike are you talking?

Yeah I hear what you're saying. I've thought about the Wind River range, but seeing as how I don't know much about that area, I feel I would most likely have to hire a guide to make it worth the trip. It would start to get a little pricey that way. But hey, I understand that nice fish don't come easy!

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." ~John Buchan

Just pulled this from wikipedia, seems that the golden trout has faced the same kinds of problems as our native bonneville cutthroat.

"Years of overexploitation, mismanagement and competition with exotic species have brought these fish to the brink of being designated as threatened. Introduced brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) outcompete them for food, introduced brown trout (Salmo trutta) prey on them and introduced rainbow trout (O. mykiss) hybridize with them, damaging the native gene pool through introgression.
The golden trout was designated the state fish of California in 1947. Populations have been in steady decline for decades. As a result, the California Department of Fish and Game [1] signed an agreement with federal agencies in September 2004 to work on restoring back-country habitat. Conservationists have also been attempting to introduce golden trout to other waters such as to Lake Mohave in Nevada and Arizona."

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." ~John Buchan

About ten years ago, I seem to remember reading in the old Utah Fishing magazine about an experimental stocking of goldens in the Uintah's. The DWR did not disclose the location to allow them to become established. Enough time has gone by that it should be possible to find out where and if they were stocked. Whether they are still there would be any bodie's guess.



I have never caught a fish on my last cast!

The fishing in the Windrivers can change drastically from year to year depending on water, snow pack etc...

The Goldens are generally in the higher lakes. I have caught them at several lakes that are in the 10-12 mile hike range. In other words backpacking.

I would call the Orvis store or the Great Rip off I mean Great Outdoors shop in Pinedale for current information on where to find the goldens.

Windriver

Hi all I am new to this site but when I seen this post I figured I could help. My brothers and I spend a week every summer in the Wind Rivers and have done a lot of fishing there over the years and we found Golden trout in a few lakes out side the reservation the one most accessable is called Monrow it is not a huge lake but we have caught several nice ones in there. With out horses that is your best bet. You could hike to it in a day no sweat take a pack and spend a few days and enjoy your self.

Isn't Monroe up and off a bit on the Scab Creek Trail ?

Welcome to the site! That's some good info, thanks for sharing.

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." ~John Buchan

you can catch them in several lakes in idaho also you can look were they have planted them for the last 5 years on the f&g page.

Just hike up to the Titcomb basin on the Pinedale side.
Men think that they own the water they use. You might as well claim [the] air.... to say that you own the water.
- Mr Murdock
The Utah Constitution recognized and confirms the public's ownership of Utah Waters.
-Judge Derek P. Pullan, Fourth District Court, 21 Day of May 2012

I can attest to this. I have been doing an annual trip up there for the better part of the last decade with hopes of landing a Goldie, and the only fish I've caught are Brookies and a few Cutts. Still a beautiful place to be though.





Oh river rise from your sleep.

Good on ya. Karma will be on your side for sure. Welcome to the forum. Where you getting your pike?

Gotta love Utah... So much good fishing, so little time!

I must chime in and say it’s been years maybe ten the way time flies, but I did catch a golden in dollar lake up Henrys Fk. that was a long time ago though.
It was a healthy decent size fish for Uintah's standards. I honestly didn’t know what I caught in tell I got to the bottom of the hike and they had a poster showing the fish in the (area) canyon, to my amaze it was a golden trout.
Good luck let us know if you find them!

It is up Scab creek the trail passes just by the point of the Lake so it dose not look like much when you get there but last time I was up there which was a couple of years ago the lake had a small sign on it telling you where you were at. If I remember right it was about 5 or 6 miles in and a pretty flat hick after the first half mile. (You gain a little elevation right at first.) We found the fish bit really good the end of June the first of July but the mosquitoes are bad the nicest time to go is August but the fishing is slower not bad but slower. The three summer months are the only time you can get in there the rest of the time is snowed in. Good luck

My favorite Pike hole around here is Yuba. We usually do very well down there. Last year was a great year for them down there but most fell just short of the 20lb mark. This year i hope to break it.

hey pikeaddic, It was great meeting you at the show!!! hope those plastics work out for me. and I hope you get your pike this year too. Thanks again.



In my world all fish are created equal. EXCEPT WALLEYE
.....FOD( means fisherman of the day. )