fishing planet rocky lake colorado golden trout

“This was a collaboration between the park, the biological staff, and the public,” said Park Manager Joe Brand. Analysis showed that two lakes – Clear Lake and Jewel Lake – would make good homes for the species. Conversations with the public took place and habitat assessments were undertaken. While golden trout can be found in other lakes in Colorado, the state record golden trout – weighing in at 3.75 pounds and measuring 22 1/2 inches – was caught in Kelly Lake by Donald O’Leary in 1979.Ībout five years ago, park staff at State Forest and aquatic biologist Kyle Battige decided to take a look at a potential return of golden trout. Despite their short tenure in Kelly Lake, the reputation of golden trout being a fun-to-catch and brightly colored fish lives on in the memory of area anglers.

By 2000 the golden trout in Kelly Lake had mostly disappeared. After the golden trout was recovered in California, it was bred in hatcheries and was stocked in lakes within the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah beginning in the 1970s.įrom the 1970s up until 1993, golden trout were stocked in Kelly Lake in State Forest State Park but that population – like most golden trout outside of historic stream spawning habitat – were unable to reproduce at self-sustaining levels. History buffs will know that Jordan was the first Chancellor of Stanford University. The species was originally described by ichthyologist David Starr Jordan in 1892.

They were believed extinct by the mid-20th century. Whitney and Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Central California. Golden trout are the state fish of California and native to the Upper Kern River drainage near Mt. About 600 golden trout have been stocked into two high-elevation, backcountry lakes, in the park with the hopes that they’ll grow to catchable size in a few years. Anglers that may venture into these remote, high-mountain lakes where golden trout were stocked are encouraged to give the fish a few years to grow.Īnglers in northern Colorado are hoping some tiny fish will mean the return of a popular catch at State Forest State Park.

Fishing planet rocky lake colorado golden trout