On Foot In the Golden Trout Wilderness
In retrospect I guess it was a fair question to ask: “Why are you driving all the way up there and hiking 20 miles to fish tiny creeks with little hope of catching anything over a foot long?” My friend’s face, as he posed this, indicated genuine puzzlement.
“Exactly,” was all I could, or needed, to say.
I watched the confusion melt into a grin of understanding as he caught on: “Yeah, wish I could get the time off.”
That was months ago. Now here I am tying on a small caddis on the bank of the headwaters of Golden Trout Creek in long afternoon shadows. The scenery, from the classic alpine creek of my immediate surroundings to some of the highest peaks in the Sierra Nevada framing the view in the distance, repeatedly steals my attention from the task at hand.
Trying to hang back far enough from the edge of the small creek to remain undetected, I make a short cast and let the fly drop gently near a brushy, overhanging bank. The unmistakable flash of gold and crimson that envelopes my offering is nearly instantaneous.
Bringing the feisty little California golden trout to hand, I am awed by its colors. I doubt anyone could ever become so accustomed to the lurid paint of the golden trout as to take it for granted. After I gently remove the fly, the fish idles lazily at my feet for several casual swishes of its tail before giving one strong flick and melting into the golden-hued waters of its home.
There are three native subspecies of golden trout in California: the California golden (also known as the Volcano Creek golden), native to the upper Kern Plateau east of the Kern River; the Little Kern golden, limited to the Little Kern River, which flows out of the Sequoia Wilderness to join the Kern; and the Kern River rainbow, found in the upper main Kern River, which is distinguishable from the native rainbows of the upper Kern by a more golden hue.
Even experienced fisheries biologists admit that discerning among the three subspecies in the field can be difficult. The location in which the fish is encountered within the Golden Trout Wilderness (GTW) may be one of the best indicators.
It is generally agreed that the California golden is the most brilliantly colored of the three subspecies. Not coincidentally, it has been widely transplanted throughout other parts of the Sierras, and as far away as Wyoming and Alberta.
While it may be uncommon to catch golden trout in the GTW over 12 to 14 inches, the innate beauty of these fish and their surroundings more than make up for the lack of lunkers. In the right areas of the GTW, determined anglers could catch all three subspecies in a single day, as well as wild rainbows and the occasional brown trout.
Hiking In
There are several roads that skirt the edges of the GTW, but much of it is accessible only by strapping a rod to your pack and putting one foot in front of the other. The good news is that if you’re in decent physical shape, the effort doesn’t need to be superhuman, and you are virtually guaranteed a reward at any substantial flowing water.
You don’t need to plan a multi-day backpacking trip in the GTW to find golden trout—there are several areas where day hikes can yield results—but to truly immerse yourself in the experience there’s no substitute for an extended adventure. A hike to the true ancestral drainages of the California golden trout, such as Volcano and Golden Trout creeks, would make for a very long day hike with little time for angling.
The GTW boasts a diverse trail system, allowing for a variety of trips from easy to epic, depending on your motivation. Tom Harrison’s Golden Trout Wilderness Trail Map (boredfeet.com, $8.95), Suzanne Swedo’s Hiking California’s Golden Trout Wilderness (globepe quot.com, $18.95), and Ralph Cutter’s The Sierra Trout Guide (flyline.com, $19.95) are excellent references.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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