How to catch Golden Trout

[Nick]

Okay, I know I read it somewhere around here but I can't find it. What's the magic recipe for catching Golden Trout in the Wind Rivers? It's not the usual trout flies is it? Wet flies? Streamers? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[uintahiker]

Honestly, the first step is go where they are. It's hard to catch them where they are not. They like cold, clear, unpolluted water typically above 10,000 ft. The first and hardest step is to get where they are.

Are you looking for stream trout or lake trout, because your methods will be different for each.

Stream trout like royal wulffs up on top, and copper johns subsurface. Jigs are good too. A lot of the creeks in the Winds have a pretty steep gradient, so there's not much time for spinners to work their magic. The longer you're in the strike zone, the better chance you have. Pretty much most of the small standard high country flies will work- some better than others.

Goldens in lakes are pretty notorious for being cruisers and liking their meals deeper down. Scuds, copper johns, jigs, and lures that you let sink will probably be the ticket. A golden lake I was at recently saw most of the trout being caught with jigs. Up on the surface, they'd come within a few inches of the presentation and turn away.

 

[Deadeye008]

Uintahiker is on to it. In the streams, Goldens are not picky at all and will usually hit most anything you put in front of them. I like thowing Elk Hair Caddis. A good attractor pattern like the royal wulff, royal coachman, stimulator will also do the trick.

Golden trout in lakes are a completely different story. They have plenty of food and can be very picky, especially in the summer months. In Spring and Fall they are less picky. Scuds are the ticket with Golden trout in high alpine lakes. Take a look at my recent trip report to the Winds and note the color of the fillets from the trout we ate. They are bright orange/red which means they are eating tons of crustaceans(ie scuds). I caught aprox. 20 goldens in that lake in half a day, all on scud patterns. My most successful pattern was a size 8 orange scud which I had custom made. Smaller sizes should work well also. I did catch a few on a size 16 tan scud but they did not seem as willing to hit it. While scuds make up the majority of their diet, I would also bring a wide variety of other flies because you never know when you are going to happen up a hatch/feeding frenzy and the trout can be very selective in those cases. Plus, flies weigh close to nothing. Golden trout in lakes are notorious for cruising the shallows looking for food. The best places to find them is where there is a shallow area where they can feed but also has a big drop off near so they can jet to safety in the deep. Look for cliff faces and scree slopes that extend into the lake. Those are likely places they will be. I would also suggest quickly scouting out a lake when you arrive. Blind fishing will give up very few fish but if you can spot them from a perch and find where they are hanging out you will have a lot more success.

Besides flies, I have seen great success with gold spinners used on lakes with Golden trout. My Dad and his friend used gold spinners exclusively on my last trip to the Winds and caught plenty of Goldens in the lake. They were using gold Blue Fox Vibrax spinners. I'm not sure if spinners would work well in the summer months when the fish hold deeper in the lakes though.

 

[Nick]

Awesome! So how best to fish those scuds?

 

[Deadeye008]

Awesome! So how best to fish those scuds?

If you're sight fishing just watch where the fish is cruising and put it a ways ahead of him in his cruising lane. You might have to add some split shot to get it down to their cruising level fast enough. If you can't see the fish you want to make sure you're scud is down deep enough and you are going to want to make really short twitches to give the scud some action. The scud is a fresh water shrimp so think of how shrimp swim. If you are fishing an orange or pink scud, that is imitating a dead scud so you basically just dead drift it. The wind will move your line/scud sufficiently when dead drifting. A lot of times the takes are very subtle and hard to notice. This is why sight fishing is much more productive because you can see the fish take the scud and know when to set the hook. In Summer the fish come up from the depths to feed in the shallows usually only in the morning and evenings. That's when you should be able to spot them. They tend to stay deep during the majority of the day. Spring and Fall is different and they are cruising and feeding a lot more.

 

[Nick]

Sweet. Thanks for the advice. I'm stoked!

 

[Deadeye008]

Sweet. Thanks for the advice. I'm stoked!

I'm jealous...

 

[HomerJ]

I ran into a few people this past week in Titcomb Basin catching them on woolly buggers. One guy said he hooked a 20" golden but broke off...

 

[uintahiker]

I ran into a few people this past week in Titcomb Basin catching them on woolly buggers. One guy said he hooked a 20" golden but broke off...

Looking forward to your trip report!