Tips for finding, catching the rare golden trout in Utah

Tips for finding, catching the rare golden trout in Utah

(Spencer Durrant)


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THE GREAT OUTDOORS — The Uinta Mountains is known for its remote, rugged terrain and stellar fishing. While the brook and tiger trout and arctic grayling get most of the attention, another fish also resides among those peaks.

The golden trout is one of the world's rarest trout, and though it's native to the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, a few populations exist in Utah.

"Goldens," as many anglers refer to them, are cousins of the rainbow trout. They evolved separately from rainbows, but remain genetically close enough to both rainbow and cutthroat trout that hybridization isn't uncommon.

The fact that goldens crossbreed so easily with their cousin trout makes catching a genetically pure specimen one of North America's ultimate fly fishing bucket list items.

Most research suggests that few, if any, genetically pure populations of golden trout remain in the wild. Your best bet to find these is in the Golden Trout Wilderness in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains.

If you're willing to settle for less-than-100-percent-genetically-pure goldens, though, you can catch some right here in Utah.

The history of gold in Utah

The only trout native to Utah are the Yellowstone, Bonneville, Bear Lake/Bear River, Colorado River and Greenback cutthroat trout (though the Greenbacks are only slightly genetically different from Colorado River specimens). Goldens were never here before being planted in the 1920s.

In the quick expansion of the West at the turn of the 20th century, however, native fish populations were diluted as well-meaning but ill-informed fishery managers, anglers and entrepreneurs planted fish in any river across the West. Brown trout — native to Germany — and rainbow trout — native to the Pacific Coast — found their way into most streams in the West, and have thrived ever since.

Goldens were planted in numerous states as well, with populations existing in California, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Montana, at some point.

However, goldens never really established a foothold where they were planted. While golden trout evolved as the top predator within their ecosystem, when living alongside other predators like brown, rainbow, brook, and cutthroat trout, goldens were pushed down the food chain.

This led to fewer spawning-sized adults, and combined with the hybridization with cutthroat and rainbow trout, it meant smaller populations.

In a few remote lakes and streams, goldens established small, but persistent, populations throughout the Uinta Mountains. Today, those populations still exist.

Fishing for gold in Utah

Most anglers looking to bag a golden trout head to Wyoming or California (though Montana and Idaho boast good populations as well). For Utah anglers, though, all it takes is a trip to our backyard.

Echo Lake is perhaps Utah's worst-kept angling secret for goldens. Located in the Murdock Basin of the Uinta Mountains, it's the best bet for catching goldens close to home.

Echo Lake is accessed via the Murdock Basin Road, which splits off the Mirror Lake Highway a few miles before the Upper Provo River Falls. Getting to Echo Lake requires a high-clearance 4x4 vehicle or ATV. It's not something to take the minivan on, unless you don't value integral automotive parts like an oil pan, axles, and your differential.

The bumpy ride is worth it, though, as Echo is one of the prettiest lakes in the Uintas. Brook trout and goldens exist alongside each other in Echo Lake — an incredibly rare feat — and while populations consist of small fish, there's plenty of them.

Take a single dry fly, wade a few feet out, and slowly retrieve the fly across the lake's surface. Within a few minutes, you'll have your own Utah gold in the net.

Other waters in the Uintas house goldens, but those are best left unsaid. Anglers love goldens in large part because of the adventure and hard work required to find them.

Have you caught a golden trout in Utah? Let us know in the comments below.


![Spencer Durrant](http://img.ksl.com/slc/2583/258385/25838585\.jpg?filter=ksl/65x65)
About the Author: Spencer Durrant \---------------------------------

Spencer Durrant is a fly fishing writer, outdoors columnist, and novelist from Utah. His work has appeared in Field & Stream, TROUT Magazine, Hatch Magazine, and other national publications. He's also the Managing Editor of The Modern Trout Bum. Connect with him on Twitter/Instagram, @Spencer_Durrant.

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