Posts by Fly Fishing the Sierra

The Paiute Cutthroat trout (Salmo clarkii seleniris),is native to the East Carson River watershed. It is hypothesized that the Paiutes separated from the Lahontan Cutthroats living in the lower Carson River Drainage. Through the centuries the color of the Paiutes has become quite similar to that of the Golden Trout. The trout was originally described by…

  Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) was native to the McCloud River below the Lower Falls to Shasta Lake. This is the only area in which the Bull Trout was native to California. However, it is widely distributed throughout the interior portions of Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and British Columbia. It was our only native char.…

The Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), belongs to the char family. Most of these fish are found within the Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake and Fallen Leaf Lake around the Truckee River Drainage areas. This fish is generally deeply trolled for with minnow-type lures and can grow to over 15 lbs. It feeds on other fish and has been blamed…

  The Eastern Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), belongs to the char family. The Brookies have been planted through hatchery programs throughout the state and has become well-established in those areas above 4,000 ft. elevation, within small lakes and streams. The brookie does well in these waters since it does not require active stream water to…

The Kamloops Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss kamloops) was introduced to California in June 1950. 1,000 yearlings brought in from British Columbia were released in Shasta Lake by certain sportsmen out of Redding, CA. Since then, they have been introduced within other lakes of the Sierra such as Crowley Lake. It is the largest non-migratory Rainbow Trout. Kamloops prefer stillwater…

  The Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi), also known as the black spotted trout by the Paiute Indians, once flourished throughout the basins of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan. The trout reached epic sizes as Capt. John Fremont recounted that the Paiutes brought Lahonton trout to his camp in 1843. He wrote “Their flavor was excellent–superior,…

  The  Volcano Creek Golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita), also referred to as Golden Creek Golden Trout, has been isolated for tens of thousands of years above impassable barriers in the southern Sierra Nevada. Through this time, the Golden Trout has evolved into a fish so unique and colorful that the California Legislature has named…

  The Little Kern Golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss whitei ), is native to high elevation streams and lakes in the Little Kern River, a major tributary to the Kern River in the southern Sierra Nevada. In the early 1900’s anglers and the Department of Fish and Game, eager to improve fishing, unwittingly threatened the Little Kern golden…