Goldens have an interesting genealogical history. Before civilization came to California, there was a water route from the Pacific ocean to the upper reaches of the Kern River, at the southern end of the Sierra range in a steep canyon that led to waters at over 11,000 ft elevation. Steelhead (sea-going rainbow trout) would migrate all the way from the Pacific through the sometimes filled Buena Vista lake and up into the Sierra's remote, high elevation streams. At some point thousands of years ago, a volcano's degrees blocked off the South Fork of the Kern river so that the Steelhead could no longer swim up into the upper reaches (highest elevation) of the South Fork Kern. This isolated the fish trapped above the volcanic blockage so that they became a distinct species of landlocked trout which adapted to the high elevation and short growing period. When herdsmen discovered the trout while grazing their herds, they transported some small fish to the Cottonwood Lakes, on the other (eastern) side of the Sierra Divide. These became the brood stock from which golden trout were transplanted everywhere else they are found today.
And the ancestors of those Steelhead actually came from the coast of Southern California and Baja California. Mexico has a separate variety of Golden Trout. The ancestry of both Cutthroat Trout and Rainbow Trout have a common ancestor that dates back about 50,000 years ago off the Pacific coast. The ancestry of the Cutthroat line went North and up rivers inland towards the East and the ancestry of the Rainbow line went South towards Mexico before returning North after the decline of the Ice Age
I am 63 years old and have been fishing tiny creaks for 58 years started with my father who has now passed on. Beautiful creek and golden trout are so pretty thanks from Canada .
Still remember my 1st golden trout, a narrow stream (2 feet) feeding into Whitney Creek, below Timberline Lake, John Muir Trail. That one fish change my life. Catch and release wild trout.
I'm from PA and they were on my bucket list too! I was able to fulfill that list 13yrs ago when I was able to hike the JMT for 9 days. I can attest to the fact that they are more beautiful in person than on camera and its hard to believe, that as they got larger, (up to about 12") they even got more colorful!
Used to catch golden trout high up in the sierra nevadas. Had to 4wheel drive in and then hike up. Some of my best memories. Sadly the roads got graded and then paved and i never saw another one again.
Great video, the Sierra Nevada are beautiful. This fish is on my bucket list, but for now, you have inspired me to chase our native brook trout in the mountain streams of PA.
Seems like it’d be a cool trip but are there any big goldens left in California in a creek or river with that good of scenery? I’ve seen people catch big ones in Rocky Mountain lakes but no beautiful streams like that.
Congrats! Any time we can catch a Native in its Native waters is such a thrill!! Well done Tristan! A wee bit envious.....such a beauty trout too! Wow!!
No way! I’ve lived in SoCal all my life and have been going fishing to mammoth for years but never heard of the golden trout wilderness. Thank you for sharing this area with us!
There are some tiny creeks south of Lone Pine where you can catch small Goldens without the 15 mile hike. One of them I just parked my car by the creek and caught them. Kennedy Meadows used to be good, but the beavers have messed it up
I also forgot to mention. If you are still around the area, head up to Virginia lakes. They have a few Alpine lakes and streams that are pretty spectacular and the lower lakes get stocked with some monsters
Beautiful fish. First time I had caught one was while doing the John Muir trail there in CA. Had no idea what fish it was until I got home and looked it up. I think I caught like 40 of them on that trip.
Did this with my grandpa as a kid with a fly rod, right under waterfalls always caught them with black ant flies, good memories. Muir trail in California
Absolutely wonderful again. I love your trips and fishing. I have some flame yarn also😀 love catching goldens as well in California or Wyoming. Thanks very much
Great fun watching you do this. I am inspired to do what I need to, so I can hike/visit this stream when I start traveling. I noticed that you did some longer shots in this video. They add a nice touch.
Aggressive for their size. Reminds me of yellow perch in Tallulah Falls Lake, Georgia. Mean little guys who go after lures their size. I saw a lot of small fish darting under overhanging grass in the Golden Trout Wilderness on E. side of Sierra 30 years ago. Were likely those fish.
Wow...what a great video; this is a huge bucket list item of mine. For me, it would be quite a trek, and I would have to plan it out a lot more than my usual jaunts. People down here don't understand why I would drive hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles to catch "tiny fish"...they don't understand the pull these places and fish have on me...catching these isolated species in their native waters.
I'm a northern California native(now in texas) and have spent alot of time in the sierras catching wild rainbows and browns (some pretty big) and I've always wanted to catch a golden but never got the chance to. I personally hate tenkara but to each their own lol. Love those little golden gems. The pauite cutthroat is the world's rarest trout also native to a very small portion of the Sierra. They're so rare you're not even allowed to fish for them at all!
Hi great job for your Fishing technique and also the choice of streams, mostly golden trout creek. it looks a lot like the stream i fish in the south of france but in France we don’t have golden trout. Juste a question when you’re fishing with a nymphe.How do you feel the trout ?You don’t use an indicator. Sorry for my english. Thanks
I started "fly fishing" about 1967 with an old spin rod and reel. My dad took a friend of mine and i camping above Bishop in the Eastern Sierra. I tied a dry fly to the end of my spin reel's monofilament and began whipping it back and forth, casting forward under a bush hanging over the welter at a trail crossing. One cast the fish rose and took the fly. That was my first fly caught fish and my first golden trout. That spot was at about 9500 ft elevation - just at the lower end of the golden's elevation range. I was hooked along with the fish, which I took back to camp and my dad fried up for dinner. So I guess my first fly caught fish was kind of a tankara kind of rig - no weighted line. Soon after I bought an inexpensive fly fishing kit by mail order. Back then, there was no Amazon. I thing I might have bought it from Cabela's or Gander Mountain. I went on to tying my own flies until someone broke into my self storage and took all the fly tying stuff along with a dozen assorted reels and rods - many of which I built from blanks myself. But that first trout caught on a fly will always be the one I'll remember.
sierra nevada mts? oh yeah? im from Truckee. i used to love hitting some of the less known trout in the area. i had to move out to NC a few years back and i miss Truckee, but where im at in NC, there is still some trout to catch, so its not all bad.
Got to do some tenkara fishing on the Rio Grande in Colorado last week. Hooked into some brown trout and had a decent sized fish (what I suspect may have been a Rio Grand Cutthroat) break off my leader. It was a good time. I've learned a ton watching your videos here, so thank you for posting these!
Great video. I never caught what area you hiked into. What creek is that? I drove into Kernville earlier this week to hike the Forks but the road is still closed. I would like to try another area. Any help would be ideal.
Welcome to Cali! There are a lot of streams and rivers so hope you work your way up 395! Right now in the year, it’s really good for the Sierras so keep on fishing! Waiting for the next video😂👍🏻
Nice! I have a few "secret" spots near me full of cutthroat that remind me a lot of this. I live in southwest Colorado near Durango. I've avoided the Colorado River cutthroat in Hermosa creek however. They've had a rough couple of years thanks to a wildfire and the resulting run off. Department of wildlife actually hiked in and removed all of them, then held them at the hatchery. They released them again last summer, so I've left them alone. Might go check things out this summer though. Never caught a golden though! Might have to make a trip to California 🤔
@@musicvideos5196 thank you. I'm going to have to make a trip. The stories I just saw about it said to give it a year or 2 to let the fish become established though. I guess that doesn't mean u can't fish though, just be careful handing them which I always am anyways.
Colorado tried stocking Goldens once before, but they only became established in one creek. There is a video somewhere in the depths of RU-vid about the quest to find it.
Suggestion, you might check into a backpacking hammock. I use them for situations like this where I don't have an established campsite. Works great and super comfortable.
What an epic spot! Im looking into heading there myself soon and I definitely prefer hitting these small pocket water streams any time! You never know what comes out of some of the deeper holes!
the water and the granite boulders have a reddish brown tinge is that maybe from iron in the water and do you think it has something to do with the color of the fish?
I enjoy your videos. Beautiful streams and great descriptions. But with respect, I have fly fished for 50 years and I haven't seen you do anything that can't be done with a regular fly rod. A fly rod allows you to do much more, mainly because you can let out or take in line as needed. You can dap a fly with little more than the leader out, you can roll cast beautifully with a tapered line, and you can make a 50 foot cast, all with the same rod, reel, line and leader. You can easily make the short casts I see you make and you can make a bow and arrow cast. Enlighten me. When is Tenkara better?
I'm a tenkara angler for probably the same reason you're a traditional fly angler. It just appeals to me more than other types of fishing. I'm not here to convert anybody, just share my adventures. If you want to know the advantages or benefits of tenkara, you can Google that and find articles written about it. Thanks for watching.
How often do you use tungsten nymphs with tenkara rods? Other than tenkara twitching streamers for smallmouth i find myself tenkara nymphing with tungsten bead flies the most
Yes, a 13 foot rod will be way too big for small streams like this. A rod that length is only for wide open streams. Not sure exactly what you're asking about regarding line weight.
I'm from PA and they are not the same fish and I have caught both. Palominos are nothing more than rainbow trout, not golden trout, and just in a golden yellow phase that can be reproduced in hatcheries and stocked. Golden trout are a species all their own and their native range is high up in the sierra's. They need the cold water temps found in high altitudes to survive and they generally are not found below 7000 feet. These are all wild fish and not produced in hatcheries like the palominos are.
@@Pwrcritter You're welcome! You would be surprised at how many anglers from PA think they are the same fish because they want to call palominos golden trout. A year ago I had a difficult discussion on youtube with some one from West Virginia who couldn't understand they were two different trout because their state fish commission wanted to call palominos golden trout. To this day, I'm not sure if I ever convinced him about the difference. Anyway, thank you for your kind reply!
