Golden Trout???

[J Byrd]

One the photos page there is a picture of a golden color trout. Is this a golden rainbow? Also, is it a spieces or run a bow that happens to be golden in color. J. Byrd

[J Byrd]

Let me correct my poor writing skills


Also, is it a spieces or a rainbow that happens to be golden in color

[The Professor]

If you are talking about that one under the "Oddities and Ends", it is an albino rainbow. Now there is a species of trout called the goldend trout that is truly a golden color, but it's found only out west.

[J Byrd]

OHHHHHHH......Thanks, J. Byrd

[Tommy Hunter]

J.
There is a strain of rainbow trout that are golden in color. There is a private hatchery in Hiwasee (Dyer's I believe) that produces them and sells them. My uncle is considering buying some to put in his pond.

Tommy

[J Byrd]

Beautiful fish! I hope to catch and release one. Not before snaping a picture though. J. Byrd

[Mountaineerfan]

Growing up trout fishing in West Virginia, we pulled many a golden trout out of the rivers. I believe they were all stockers, but they were really neat to see on the end of the line!! I even have a picture of my dad from 20 years ago with a stringer full of trout, and the largest one being a golden. Anyone know if they stock goldens around here?
BTW, this is my first post!!

[duane]

Mountaineer fan, finally nice to hear from a fellow "hillbilly" on the board, I too grew up in West Virginia and when I told people here about golden trout, they thought I was crazy. I fished the Elk river, the catch and release area, over Thanksgiving and saw a monster golden, about 6 lbs there but couldn`t get him to hit anything, very wary fish, but I don`t have to tell you that. So I stopped by the hatchery in Bowden and took some pictures of some goldens and showed them to some of the guys at Unicoi Outfitters, the pictures are still there for anyone who wants to see them. Jimmy said they have stocked some in the past but don`t know how long ago that was. I there often but haven`t seen any, BTW, fished there last Friday and landed 19 fish, 17 were over 20 inches, I highly reccomend spending a day there! Duane

[Rod]

I seent sum in VA. A Hatchery up thata way sells 'em too.

[jeffg]

WV people...ever see the Golden that used to live in Smokehole Caverns down there near Canaan Valley/Blackwater Falls. That thing was all of 8+ lbs and people used to fish for it all the time and never catch him. He was just a monster. Used to be able to hear him just laugh at people.
Then you'd turn around and those **** people would have already slapped a smokehole caverns bumper sticker on your car.

[Mountaineerfan]

No, we never fished Smoke Hole much. We usually fished the Cranberry, Greenbriar, Williams, etc. If anyone would like to try fishing for the Golden (or the others as well) in WV, let me know. My dad's men's group at church has a fishing trip every spring, where they camp and fish for most of the week. (Sorry, no bumper stickers!!)
BTW, got myself a fly rod for Christmas. Now I have to learn how to use it. . .

[Jim]

True, pure, native and wild golden trout can be found out west. California's Seira Mountains, Wind River Range in Wyoming and in parts of Montana. All of the golden trout I have gone after and caught were in very high alpine lakes and streams above the timber line (9,500+ft) and a tough one-way 4-5 hour hike, basically straight up. Most easily accessable 'goldens' are probablly rainbows or cuts with some cross of goldens. Pure strain goldens have been described as: "larger than life. Its not just a trout, but an embodiment of trout fishing literally taken to its highest realm. ... goldens are not a casual pursuit. They provide a true quest for adventurous fly fishers". One flyfishing instructor, author, guide wrote: "In my fly-fishing travels I've seen many beautiful fish in spectacular waters, but nothing more wonderful than the golden trout. It is a treasure unlike any other, and few anglers experience its beauty". I agree.

[Chris England]

This looks suspiciously like what is referred to as a "Palomino" Rainbow.

It is a hybrid species I believe that was first developed at a West Virginia hatchery, in the 1960's. If I remember correctly they are a hybrid between the golden trout mentioned earlier, and a rainbow.

Shortly after the success of the Palomino stockings in WV, PA began stocking them in the better trout streams. They usually only stock them in 20" or better lengths. They are stocked as a trophy catch type of situation in an otherwise brown or rainbow stream. The chance of catching a big palomino always exists in some of the PA streams. How one exists here, might be better handled by Bill Couch.

The reason I seem "well read" on this, is that my cousin hooked one on our annual pilgrimage back to our home waters in upstate PA. I estimate that it went around 10-12lbs. I almost had it in the net twice, and got a face to face look at it. After the trip was over, I did some reading on it, and found a few web pages that discuss it.

This web is great ain't it?

[NiteOwl]

Milliam told me about some new trout on TUTV. Said they could tolerate warmish water.
Anyone?


Owl

[fishmonger]

I once had the great fortune of catching Golden Trout in the Sierra Mountains, in the North (?) Fork of the Owens River, in the Devil's Postpile National Monument. They are really a beautiful little fish, and worth the considerable effort to get to. I seem to remember losing about 3 pounds hiking in and out of that gorge. The Golden is the California state fish.

Owl,
TUTV did indeed talk about the Rainbows in the Deschutes River being a specialized subspecies capable of surviving in higher than normal water temperatures. The Deschutes is in eastern Oregon, which is high desert terrain, and apparently they have evolved to thrive in the warmer conditions. Sounds like we'll need to stock some here soon...

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"You flex your rod, fish takes the hook, ha!" -Roger Waters