08-08-2007, 06:53 PM
[cool][font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]These dudes are really small. One might need a 1 wt rod or smaller if there is such a thing. Here is a report from the OC Register on catching California's Golden Trout. Please practice C&R.[/size][/green][/font]
Monday, August 6, 2007 This trout is golden By DAVE STREGE The Orange County Register
LONE PINE - A red lateral line. A greenish body that bleeds into a golden yellow. A bright orange belly. A spotted tail and white-tipped fins.
One might think the vibrant colors and beauty of a golden trout were an artist’s creation not something that nature painted.
Little wonder why the golden trout was designated as the state freshwater fish of California in 1947.
Not surprisingly, this so-called "gold nugget" is held in high esteem by anglers, many of whom believe the only way to catch one is to hike into the high-elevation back country.
In truth, golden trout are more accessible than many anglers think. If you can make a 10-minute walk at an elevation of more than 9,000 feet, you can be fishing a golden trout stream.
Among the rare fishing spots anglers can drive to for goldens are Cottonwood Creek and it’s tributary Horseshoe Meadow Creek within the Golden Trout Wilderness. Both are located near the end of Horseshoe Meadow Road, a 35-minute drive up steep switchbacks from Highway 395 just south of Lone Pine.
Bruce Ivey of Independence is a long-time golden trout angler who last month showed me where and how to fish for these golden trout.
"Driving up the highway, you wouldn’t believe this beautiful, forested area is up here," he said at one point, looking out over a vacant meadow that looked as wild as Alaska.
As darkness approached, Ivey walked along Horseshoe Meadow Creek, noticing its low water level and minimal (and in some parts no) flows.
"I hope a lot of these fish get up stream to survive," he said.
Ivey managed to find a hole inhabited with fish. Fishing on his knees to avoid detection, he dropped a dry fly onto the water. Traditional fly-fishing, it isn’t. No casting is required. No reeling, either. Just drop the fly on the water and wait for fish to attack.
"See him come out of the water for it?" Ivey said after missing an aggressive strike.
Soon, he raised the rod to display a tiny fish wiggling like crazy in midair. He released the fish and caught another.
"It’s the most beautifully colored trout in the world," Ivey said.
Many fly-fishing purists enlist the nearby Cottonwood Pack Station to lead them into the backcountry to catch goldens.
"They don’t feel the resume is complete unless they fish the golden trout within the Golden Trout Wilderness," Ivey said. "A lot of them have fished around the world, but they come up here and they’re just as excited to catch a six- to 10-inch fish."
Don’t expect one golden to fill a fry pan.
"When you’re fishing for golden trout, you can’t be in to size," Ivey said. "The fish in the streams are very prolific and produce in very high numbers. Consequently, they’re fairly small."
We’re talking very small, many no bigger than your finger.
Alone the next morning, I found a hole loaded with fish. On my knees, careful not to spook the skittish fish, I snuck up behind a bush and lowered a mosquito-patterned dry fly onto the water. In 45 minutes, I caught and released at least eight golden trout and had many more hits that I missed. Most were three to five inches, but the biggest was eight inches, considered a trophy in these parts.
The colors were as brilliant as advertised.
To encourage anglers to come to Lone Pine, the chamber of commerce this year began a Catch the Gold program whereby anglers catching and releasing a golden trout are rewarded — for $20 — with a suitable-for-framing certificate displaying a golden trout.
And the trout on the certificate is as colorful as the real thing.
Contact the writer: [url "mailto:dstrege@ocregister.com"]dstrege@ocregister.com[/url]
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Monday, August 6, 2007 This trout is golden By DAVE STREGE The Orange County Register
LONE PINE - A red lateral line. A greenish body that bleeds into a golden yellow. A bright orange belly. A spotted tail and white-tipped fins.
One might think the vibrant colors and beauty of a golden trout were an artist’s creation not something that nature painted.
Little wonder why the golden trout was designated as the state freshwater fish of California in 1947.
Not surprisingly, this so-called "gold nugget" is held in high esteem by anglers, many of whom believe the only way to catch one is to hike into the high-elevation back country.
In truth, golden trout are more accessible than many anglers think. If you can make a 10-minute walk at an elevation of more than 9,000 feet, you can be fishing a golden trout stream.
Among the rare fishing spots anglers can drive to for goldens are Cottonwood Creek and it’s tributary Horseshoe Meadow Creek within the Golden Trout Wilderness. Both are located near the end of Horseshoe Meadow Road, a 35-minute drive up steep switchbacks from Highway 395 just south of Lone Pine.
Bruce Ivey of Independence is a long-time golden trout angler who last month showed me where and how to fish for these golden trout.
"Driving up the highway, you wouldn’t believe this beautiful, forested area is up here," he said at one point, looking out over a vacant meadow that looked as wild as Alaska.
As darkness approached, Ivey walked along Horseshoe Meadow Creek, noticing its low water level and minimal (and in some parts no) flows.
"I hope a lot of these fish get up stream to survive," he said.
Ivey managed to find a hole inhabited with fish. Fishing on his knees to avoid detection, he dropped a dry fly onto the water. Traditional fly-fishing, it isn’t. No casting is required. No reeling, either. Just drop the fly on the water and wait for fish to attack.
"See him come out of the water for it?" Ivey said after missing an aggressive strike.
Soon, he raised the rod to display a tiny fish wiggling like crazy in midair. He released the fish and caught another.
"It’s the most beautifully colored trout in the world," Ivey said.
Many fly-fishing purists enlist the nearby Cottonwood Pack Station to lead them into the backcountry to catch goldens.
"They don’t feel the resume is complete unless they fish the golden trout within the Golden Trout Wilderness," Ivey said. "A lot of them have fished around the world, but they come up here and they’re just as excited to catch a six- to 10-inch fish."
Don’t expect one golden to fill a fry pan.
"When you’re fishing for golden trout, you can’t be in to size," Ivey said. "The fish in the streams are very prolific and produce in very high numbers. Consequently, they’re fairly small."
We’re talking very small, many no bigger than your finger.
Alone the next morning, I found a hole loaded with fish. On my knees, careful not to spook the skittish fish, I snuck up behind a bush and lowered a mosquito-patterned dry fly onto the water. In 45 minutes, I caught and released at least eight golden trout and had many more hits that I missed. Most were three to five inches, but the biggest was eight inches, considered a trophy in these parts.
The colors were as brilliant as advertised.
To encourage anglers to come to Lone Pine, the chamber of commerce this year began a Catch the Gold program whereby anglers catching and releasing a golden trout are rewarded — for $20 — with a suitable-for-framing certificate displaying a golden trout.
And the trout on the certificate is as colorful as the real thing.
Contact the writer: [url "mailto:dstrege@ocregister.com"]dstrege@ocregister.com[/url]
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