View Full Version : Backpacking to THE Golden Trout Lake...
Bashman
08-21-2009, 04:34 PM
This report is about 1 1/2 weeks old. Just got the pictures. This was a 54 mile roundtrip backpacking trip. Started from Horseshoe Meadows in Lone Pine area. Did it in 3 1/2 days. Don't want to mention the lake because last time it was mentioned and it got so many hits, it got locked. Many of you know where this is,so I will leave it at that.
The biggest we were able to catch was 17 inches. I heard from a ranger a 24 incher was caught not too long ago.Hopfully the pictures came out. We only caught enough to eat. Would love to have continued fishing, but these trout like to swollow what ever bait you throw at them. They were great fighters. I had to take it very slow since I was using a 2 lb line. The action was xint. Once you found the right hole to throw your line in, it was non stop. It was one of those trips I got to check off from the to do list before I die.
Next three pics are of me holding a very nice Golden.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN2-1.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN1.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN3.jpg
This was one of the best tasting trout I have ever had. (My brother the cook)
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN4.jpg
I just had to....
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN5.jpg
Here are some pictures from that area.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN6.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN7.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN8.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN9.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN10.jpg
steve092
08-21-2009, 04:51 PM
Nice fish!
A backpacking trip up to Golden Trout country is one of those things I must do!
jig fish
08-21-2009, 05:44 PM
:OMG!::OMG!::OMG!::OMG!::OMG!::OMG!:
those are HUGE!!!!! wtg dude
Sierra_Smitty
08-21-2009, 05:44 PM
Epic.....someday I'll make it back there.
And anyone thinking about bashing him for keeping a fish for dinner can just cool off - you hike 54 miles, eat a fish and let the rest go.
Ultralight
08-21-2009, 07:01 PM
Absolutely my sentiments - 54 miles, few visitors, lots of fish - no problem eating some. Beautiful fish!
UL
Bet that was an awesome dinner, hope to enjoy it one day myself. Congrats on completing a 54mi hike and enjoying the rewards!
bones
08-21-2009, 09:14 PM
Absolutely beautiful golden there dude and quite large as well. About 10 years ago they opened the cottonwood lakes to fisherman. We tried to do a day hike to fish the area and started in the parking lot at horseshoe but the parking lot sits at 10,000 ft and the hike in was an elevation gain of about 2500 ft (2 1/2 miles) The two guys I was hiking with were in horrible shape and they both had altitude sickness at the first lake (They couldn't even fish). Needless to say we only made it to the first lake but it was still fun(For Me). I caught a few small goldens but I had to get both of my buddies down the hill ASAP !!
I'm not sure where you were fishing but that hike was a killer and I had just finished the LA marathon a few months earlier....LOL
That area is definately beautiful but you have to be in pretty good shape to handle the hike.
Congrats to ya for sure!
Bashman
08-22-2009, 09:03 AM
I never start a backpacking trip until I get acclimated to the elevation. The first night we got to Lone Pine, we camped at Whitney Portal. Early next morning we started the hike.
troutdog
08-22-2009, 10:59 AM
AWESOME pics, I envy the fact you made that trip....I must make that trek before I punch my final time card. Thanks for sharing your adventure here on FNN!
Did you bait fish or primarily throw lures etc? Thanks for your feedback.
TD
homers
08-22-2009, 03:08 PM
So sweet! Nice fish. I've got to backpack in someday. This post just makes me want to do it more.
Bashman
08-22-2009, 10:44 PM
Did you bait fish or primarily throw lures etc? Thanks for your feedback.
TD
I started using threaded worms, but that kept getting stuck under the rocks. I then used mini jigs, same problem. I ended up using power bait.(We were getting hungry)
NICKYMOUSE8
08-23-2009, 11:49 AM
C'mon guys those are golden trout this is the only place on earth you will find them so why eat them!!eat the stocked rainbows back down the mountain not the WILDS bro plus no bait fishing allowed in a wild trout area just the same as poaching it is illegal there are signs posted by the U.F.S and trout unlimited on C&R they are protected man:Angry:
sansou
08-23-2009, 01:50 PM
Very cool report.
It's always refreshing to see a report like this not involving truck trout.
Congrats on a succesful 54 mile hike (yikes!). Keep the reports coming, and my 2 cents to you is to disregard the haters who really should just stick to their city lakes ninja reports.
tpfishnfool
08-23-2009, 02:53 PM
C'mon guys those are golden trout this is the only place on earth you will find them so why eat them!!eat the stocked rainbows back down the mountain not the WILDS bro plus no bait fishing allowed in a wild trout area just the same as poaching it is illegal there are signs posted by the U.F.S and trout unlimited on C&R they are protected man:Angry:
I knew we would see this sooner than later.. Give the guy a break man, Look at those fillets !! Thats Sushi grade Trout !!!
Sierra_Smitty
08-23-2009, 04:08 PM
plus no bait fishing allowed in a wild trout area just the same as poaching it is illegal there are signs posted by the U.F.S and trout unlimited on C&R they are protected man:Angry:
The USFS has zero jurisdiction over fish in the state of California...the signs you speak of do not exist. Also, considering you don't even know what lake he caught the fish at, you would have no way of knowing whether or not there are special regulations. I happen to know the lake and I know that there are not.
Crawler
08-23-2009, 04:30 PM
C'mon guys those are golden trout this is the only place on earth you will find them FAIL so why eat them!!eat the stocked rainbows back down the mountain not the WILDS bro FAIL plus no bait fishing allowed in a wild trout area FAIL just the same as poaching it is illegal FAIL there are signs posted by the U.F.S and trout unlimited on C&R FAIL they are protected man FAIL :Angry:
Seriously?
DCCTrouserTrout
08-23-2009, 04:38 PM
C'mon guys those are golden trout this is the only place on earth you will find them so why eat them!!eat the stocked rainbows back down the mountain not the WILDS bro plus no bait fishing allowed in a wild trout area just the same as poaching it is illegal there are signs posted by the U.F.S and trout unlimited on C&R they are protected man:Angry:
I am pretty sure there are goldens in Montana...
And like other people are saying, if you hike 54 miles, I think you are damn well entitled to eat a couple fish... Those are some awsome pics man...
DccFISHerMan
08-23-2009, 07:13 PM
Nice pics man way to go, fish looked delicious !!!
olfishergal
08-23-2009, 07:51 PM
Oh Man!!!! I have always wanted to eat one of those goldens..........Well deserved meal. Congrats on a successful 54 mile hike. Nothing wrong with selective harvest. In fact, it is recommended to harvest to preserve species.
OFG
sansou
08-24-2009, 12:28 AM
It's crazy how red the flesh from those goldens are.
Thanks for the cool report.
I am jealous! Makes me want to go shed my extra fat layers from winter (yes I like to hold on to them until the next winter) and go for a hike up there.
I bet after all that work those were the best tasting trout ever, sure looked good! Congratulations and I am soooo glad that there was only one hate response on this post.
Guys chose your battles wisely if you want to do some good. If you continue to post hate responses on guys keeping legal fish, whether it be LMB's, trout or whatever then your message will be watered down and will not have the impact it should. Kind of like the boy that cry's Wolf thing.
Bashman
08-24-2009, 12:06 PM
Thanks for the support everyone. I figured there would be at least one to say something stupid.
Like I mentioned before, we only caught enough to eat. I would have loved to continue fishing, even with a lure, but I didn't want to take a chance in harming a Golden if I wasn't going to have it for dinner. They have a tendency to swallow anything they are planning on eating. A little different from Rainbows on how they take a bait. At least that's what I noticed.
What we should be really concerned about is how Dept. of Fish and Game is netting many lakes in the Eastern Sierra. Many people don't even know about this. There were thriving trout lakes not to long ago, but DFG decided to get rid of all the trout in some lakes because a particular trout didn't belong there. Unfortunetly some of these extremists have found themselves in government jobs that make such decisions. Pretty soon, they will exclude us from there, because we were not originally supposed to be there....
Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in...
They have a tendency to swallow anything they are planning on eating. A little different from Rainbows on how they take a bait.
I don't think it's a species, but rather a habitat thing. Up there they have considerably less food and only few months when there are any insects available. My explanation is that they are just plain hungry and if not spooked they'll go for it hard.
What we should be really concerned about is how Dept. of Fish and Game is netting many lakes in the Eastern Sierra. Many people don't even know about this. There were thriving trout lakes not to long ago, but DFG decided to get rid of all the trout in some lakes because a particular trout didn't belong there. Unfortunetly some of these extremists have found themselves in government jobs that make such decisions. Pretty soon, they will exclude us from there, because we were not originally supposed to be there....
Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in...
Is this because of the yellow legged (or whatever it was) frog or just because somebody is a dumb@ss?
By the way - this is epic man, my hat is off to you!
I can't even dream of doing this.
Natural Lefty
08-24-2009, 03:01 PM
Bashman, I think it is because of the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog that some lakes are having the fish removed. That doesn't make sense to me, either, given that disease and pollution seem to be the main culprits in the frog's decline, and there are already plently of fishless lakes and ponds where the frog can be introduced in the Sierras. One exception I heard of was the Rocky Basin Lakes in the Golden Trout creek drainage, which the DFG said had gotten some Rainbows in there which hybridized with the Goldens, so those lakes were gillnetted. That was done only because it was in a native Golden drainage. I am not sure whether Goldens were actually native to the Rocky Basin Lakes themselves, but they drain into Golden Trout Creek. Hopefully, they will be restocked with Goldens.
Count me as one of the jealous ones upon seeing your catch. Those Goldens are real beauties, good sized and I am sure they were delicious. The only other meat I have seen as red as that was from some (not all) Sockeye Salmon. The place you went to, I think may be a place my brothers went to long ago, if I am guessing correctly, and they had terrific Golden fishing. I was too young to go, and still haven't been there all these years later. It makes me feel like going out, buying some backpacking equipment, and heading to that area. By the way, I have eaten Goldens, too, I am sure without impacting the fisheries involved. They are really good to eat, and often have very pink meat, especially from lakes, but we never caught any with meat as red as those, or as large.
By the way, regarding the "haters," you can see how I helped shortcircuit some Bass Nazi replies regarding keeping Bass from DVL. I wrote something to the effect that I think people who tell other people what to do need to explain their reasons. It seems to work, and it is a lesson out of Ethics 1a, as far as I am concerned.
Sierra_Smitty
08-24-2009, 03:08 PM
Is this because of the yellow legged (or whatever it was) frog or just because somebody is a dumb@ss?
Yup - it's because of the frog.
Sparky70
08-24-2009, 06:57 PM
If a person hikes that far, they deserve to eat what they catch, sounds yummy to me.:ROFL::ROFL:
Sparky70
08-24-2009, 07:04 PM
EAT EM IF U CATCH THEM,
There will be many more to catch later!
Natural Lefty
08-24-2009, 09:37 PM
As I have heard many people say at Lake Perris, "release to the grease."
gotstofish
08-24-2009, 11:51 PM
I almost cried.j/k That is the best looking golden.Congrats.Beautiful report
Reddest meat I've ever seen on a fish cooking.:Surprised:You earned it.:Big Grin:
teejay
08-25-2009, 02:35 PM
From the color of that meat, those fish are either chowing down on scuds or perhaps feasting on red powerbait :Wink:
Trout-Slayer77
08-25-2009, 05:21 PM
Epic trip, and amazing pictures....that golden is awesome !!!! what a trophy...have you considered taking your pics to a taxidermist for a wall mount ?, cause thats a catch of a lifetime. way to go !! that red meat looks so good. I would die to get up there with my fly rod. thanks for the report !!!!
billy b
08-25-2009, 05:26 PM
I respect any secrets you want to keep. But can you do that and still tell me the approximate altitude. It looks very high ... very impressive ... above the timberline?
Bashman
08-25-2009, 09:48 PM
Epic trip, and amazing pictures....that golden is awesome !!!! what a trophy...have you considered taking your pics to a taxidermist for a wall mount ?, cause thats a catch of a lifetime. way to go !! that red meat looks so good. I would die to get up there with my fly rod. thanks for the report !!!!
It would probably cost too much to do, plus I doubt my wife would want to put it up on any of our walls...
I respect any secrets you want to keep. But can you do that and still tell me the approximate altitude. It looks very high ... very impressive ... above the timberline?
It is above timberline. About 11000 - 11500 elevation.
Here are some more pics.
When looking at the stringer, take account there are 3 of us.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN11.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN12.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN13.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN14.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN15.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh79/BASHMAN3/GOLDEN16.jpg
Natural Lefty
08-26-2009, 09:18 PM
Teejay, I agree those those must be eating almost exclusively shrimp, or some form of crustacean, anyway. I have actually seen little shrimp in or around some backcountry lakes, such as Vee Lake in the Bear Creek Drainage. Lakes with a good shrimp population generally have good size fish, ones with very pink/orange/red meat.
Greg Madrigal
08-27-2009, 02:27 AM
Awesome! WTG on the nice goldens.
GM<><
YakN'Surf
08-27-2009, 10:43 AM
That meat is such a trip, looks like salmon or something. I guess that what native trout meat looks like, compared to stockers?
fishntoss
08-27-2009, 10:25 PM
Awesome.....
Hunt4Fish
08-30-2009, 05:17 PM
Major props dude!!!!!! A well earned meal, did you fish any other lakes? H4F
Bashman
08-31-2009, 12:15 PM
Major props dude!!!!!! A well earned meal, did you fish any other lakes? H4F
The only other area I fished was Lower Rock Creek. About 16 miles from Horseshoe Meadows.
Many small Goldens. Caught a few. About 7 inches big. All small ones in the creeks.
greeper
09-01-2009, 04:18 PM
Looks like an amazing trip, just out of curiosity a fanatical Sierra Hiker I work with said it was illegal to keep goldens except in the Cotton Wood lakes area.. I tend to disagree with him, does anyone know if there are specific areas up there where it is illegal to keep them.
Luc25
09-01-2009, 07:46 PM
Nice fish for sure. Sounds like a great hike. In one pic at least he was giving mouth to mouth, trying to help the fish survive. Guess it ended up in that great looking pan. haha.
idratherbfishin
09-05-2009, 07:29 PM
All I can say is WOW!:EyePop:
J. Owen
09-05-2009, 10:25 PM
dude your efing loving it man god times:!!!:
diamondbear
09-06-2009, 01:06 PM
JUST A TOTAL ADVENTURE . GREAT REPORT , and iam hiking all over the high country chasing deer when maybe I should be catching these beautiful , hard to reach trout .// db
Troutman65
09-06-2009, 01:59 PM
Great catch and eats :!!!:
Thanks for the the pics. and sharing on FNN:Cool:
Natural Lefty
09-06-2009, 02:04 PM
Greeper, either you or your Sierra Hiker friend have it backwards. You can keep Goldens to eat just about everywhere they occur, except for the Cottonwood Lakes Chain, where the broodstock are and the eggs and sperm taken for the hatchery. There, they let you fish with artificials, but have to let them go. If you need to know, you can just check the DFG regulations. It's all in there.