Golden trout in the Desolation Valley Wilderness area?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Are there any lakes in Desolation that still have Golden trout?

Someone contacted me with this question.

How would a July backpacking trip in there be this year?



Thanks for any help.

[Smitty Fish]

Me and a couple of friends did a backpacking trip in Desolation Wilderness about 17 years ago.
We did find some in a creek down below a lake that had some planted in there years prior to us being there. The lake had no fish in it.

DFG hasn’t planted any fish in Desolation Widerness In many years due to the yellow legged frog.
So some of those lakes don’t have any fish.

I would try further south like JohnMuir Wilderness or KingsCanyon.
Hope this information was helpful.

[Ed Wahl]

Cup Lake. Never been there myself but Ralph Cutter has, it's in his book. Here's a 30 second google search result.
https://tahoetopia.com/news/search-golden-trout

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Smitty

[Jcolin]

Not going to name specifics and piss people off but eastside lakes have been better for me, personally. If you want to catch a Golden, Cottonwood lakes is great (guess that is specific but hardly a secret). I found a lake, thanks to Ralph’s book, that has Golden-Lahontan Hybrids to 5 lbs. In recent years the size was down, with only a couple 16” caught.

The biggest Goldens, as far as I know, are in Whitney backcountry, even bigger than the Wind River Range. The trouble is they can be 7-15 days hike in (so 14-30 day trip in the backcountry). I have seen pictures of Goldens from some of those lakes from a guy that did a month long journey with fish that were almost salmon/steelhead size. Hard to pack enough food and he was definitely eating fish he caught.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Not going to name specifics and piss people off but eastside lakes have been better for me, personally. If you want to catch a Golden, Cottonwood lakes is great (guess that is specific but hardly a secret). I found a lake, thanks to Ralph’s book, that has Golden-Lahontan Hybrids to 5 lbs. In recent years the size was down, with only a couple 16” caught.

The biggest Goldens, as far as I know, are in Whitney backcountry, even bigger than the Wind River Range. The trouble is they can be 7-15 days hike in (so 14-30 day trip in the backcountry). I have seen pictures of Goldens from some of those lakes from a guy that did a month long journey with fish that were almost salmon/steelhead size. Hard to pack enough food and he was definitely eating fish he caught.

Jcolin,

This is powerful information, so thanks, even if only two young commandos do the trip into the Whitney backcountry.


Are you one of the Colin boys who have been fishing the Klamath and Rogue for decades?

[Jcolin]

Hey Bill, no that’s not me, though I do love the Klamath! I remember seeing a few desolation wilderness lakes listed in Ralph’s book that had goldens. Ive got my dad’s old copy from 80s, and it was interesting to see which lakes still had the trout listed in sierra trout guide on various trips through my 20s, and which ones had brookies now instead of cutthroat etc. I’m sure the newer editions are updated, but it was part of the fun.

[SimsFlat]

Hey Bill, no that’s not me, though I do love the Klamath! I remember seeing a few desolation wilderness lakes listed in Ralph’s book that had goldens. Ive got my dad’s old copy from 80s, and it was interesting to see which lakes still had the trout listed in sierra trout guide on various trips through my 20s, and which ones had brookies now instead of cutthroat etc. I’m sure the newer editions are updated, but it was part of the fun.

I recall that Clyde Lake once had them but as noted an earlier post no longer has or any fish due to the frog thing. The stream below it, is that the creek that goes down Rockbound Valley(?) thence Rubicon, that the earlier post mentioned finding some there....I had heard that too many years back.

[Jeff F]

Glacier Lake in the Grouse Ridge roadless area north of I-80 has/had goldens, and supposedly still does. I've seen pictures of them. They look more like golden-bow hybrids due to the more silvery coloration. But from what I've heard, they are true goldens.