Golden Trout Wilderness

[Fochetti]

I am heading into the Golden Trout wilderness for a week long 65+ mile backpacking trip July 8-15. Starting at Cottonwood Pass trailhead and then going down to Golden Trout Creek, Volcano Creek, South Fork of the Kern, and the Kern River. Anybody fished any of these, or have any good info on anything about this area. Flies, techniques, camp spots, other areas to fish: lakes, streams. Any info will be appreciated. I will definitely post a report with way too many pictures when I get back. I can't wait to get out there, however the altitude may slow me down a bit 11,000 plus feet at one point.

Thanks

John

[PaulC]

Been quite a while since I have been out there. Mosquito patterns can of course be a good choice. Did well with still water caddis patterns as well on the lakes.
General attractors and nymphs on the rivers.
Great thing is a lot of the backcountry fish are not picky if the presentation is correct.
A good forum for that area is the kern river fly fishing forum associated with their shop out there.
Odds are folks there will point you in the right direction.
Hope that helps,
Paul

[Jerry Fujii]

You can start fishing in Horseshoe Meadow which is surprisingly good even
though it is "roadside". Once over Cottonwood Pass, Stokes Stringer has fish
below the trail crossing (as you near the meadow). These fish are hybridized.
The fish are closer to pure golden in Big Whitney Meadow. The fish get bigger
(~12") from Tunnel guard station to Little Whitney Meadow. You can catch
some of the few existing "pure" goldens in Volcano Creek, but, in the interest of conservation, should severely limit your catch since even catch and release
stresses the fish. Once you get down to the Kern River, you will get rainbows
and hybrids. The fishing in the river is quite good and you can expect fish to
18" and occasionally larger. These are all "wilderness innocents" and will eat
just about any fly. My staples are Elk Hair Caddis and Beadhead PT. To catch some of the bigger fish in the river try squirrel hair leeches. Good
campsites are plentiful once you get to Big Whitney Meadow. A favorite
campsite is on lower Groundhog Creek. None of the lakes in this area have fish as the DFG removed hybrids to protect the remaining "goldens". At some point the lakes will be restocked if a genetically appropriate source can be
found. Have fun!

[Jerry Fujii]

John,

I will be in the area starting the evening of the 5th. Will be sleeping in the
back of my truck at Horseshoe Meadow that night. Will be doing work for the DFG from the 6th through the 13th in the Mulkey Meadow/ Templeton Meadow areas after that.

Jerry

[Fochetti]

Well I will be with one other guy and will have rods on our packs. Maybe we will run into you out there and can meet up. Hope to see you out there. Thanks for the awesome info Jerry, I will definitely use it.

John

[Scott V]

Have fun John, that is a trip I plan on doing next year.

[Fochetti]

Well then you will be getting a lot of good info in a couple weeks to add to the database. Hopefully some useful stuff, and I am sure some mistakes that will help you as well.

John

[Ned Morris]

The first part of the hike out of Horseshoe Meadows is neat. Creek has tiny Goldens. The climb up to Cottonwood Pass is hot and dry but not that steep as this is where the Sierras begin to flatten out. Chicken Spring lake is fishless but cool place to camp and swim. Stokes Stringer of Golden Trout Creek is loaded with small Native Goldens. Big Whitney Meadow has larger fish up to 10-11 inches but common catches are more 7-8 inches. Lots of fish you will see in the creeks. I used nothing but Caddis patterns size 16 and it did the trick. Have fun! I am jealous

[Fochetti]

Any last minute info from anyone? Tips, flies, areas not mentioned, warnings, thoughts... I am almost ready, leave in two days, can't wait to get on the road.

[Notch]

I fished that area last summer. Lots of eager goldens on Siberian and Golden Trout Creeks, although most of them are small (4-8"). To get the bigger trout, I used a streamer and focused on the undercuts beneath the large boulders on Golden Trout Creek.

If you're up for an adventure, take a side trip down the SF Kern at Templeton Meadow and fish below the barrier dam. The dam was installed to keep brown and rainbow trout from interbreeding/feeding on the golden trout. There is fishable water for about 100 yds below the barrier before the river goes into a steep canyon. Throw streamers just below the barrier and be ready for some major grabs as there are some big dog brown trout in there. Good Luck.