August 06, 2011
On Wednesday while I was at work a good friend of mine Ray was
fishing and sent me a text and a picture message on my cell phone. The picture was of a
rainbow trout and the text read: Gold trout spotted. I called up my friend
later on that evening to see if he had any further luck. He had reported just
the one rainbow and he mentioned the golden trout would not bite at anything.
The pond he had fished
is one we both know well, that I will keep nameless. It offers the usual assortment
of warm water game fish but also provides a year round trout fishery. The pond
is fairly shallow but contains a few deeper pockets and is able to sustain some
trout even in the peak heat of the summer, courtesy of a spring feeding cold
water into the pond. An essential ingredient for trout survival. It's one of very few places I know where I can sight fish
for trout, even during the summer. The pond does
not receive a whole lot of pressure in the summer months. The pond is nicely
tucked and hidden away. Though I’m happy to share spots, especially with
friends. This is one of those rare gems I like to keep mostly to myself, a tranquil
spot away from the crowds and slob fishermen who love leaving a trail of their
trash everywhere they go and kill every trout they catch. I realize not everyone is like that and allot of the local guys
are ethical fishermen but that's hard to determine with strangers over the internet. Not to mention I've been sworn to secrecy
and also burned in the past for sharing spots.
Though it’s a
public pond it is not stocked by the state but is stocked annually with trout
by a private hatchery. Which is how the golden trout got in there.
Unfortunately only 1-3 golden palomino trout are stocked per year. Both Ray and
I have been fortunate to have each caught one here in past seasons. Our state
does not raise and stock golden palomino trout, which makes landing one out of
our state public waters a rarity. I no longer live near this pond anymore and
rarely fish it but ironically the next day I happened to be in the area for a
doctor’s appointment. When I left the appointment I decided to fish that
evening before dark. Shore fishing for coldwater fish in the prime summer heat
of August, primarily for one trout in particular, that I find to be extremely
fickle. It seemed a bit of an impossibility for success. But being in my old
neck of the woods and not too far from the pond I decided to head over to it
and see if I could spot the golden trout and try my luck at it. When I got
there I did not initially spot the golden trout. When not in the weeds hiding
the fish can easily be spotted. Its shimmering bright gold appearance sticks
out and it can be seen across the pond. However I was disappointed I could not
locate it but still I was enjoying the evening and having fun catching a
variety of other fish. After about an hour into it and walking around the pond
again I finally spotted the golden trout. It was a small fish but beautiful. I
had caught one 5 years ago and remember how difficult it was to catch and how
finicky the fish was. I also remember it taking me 3 weeks (3-4 short trips per
week) to catch it; it didn’t help me any that it was blind in one eye. Anyway I
grabbed my ultra-light rod and threw out a small spinner, which it hardly
noticed and then I began experimenting with other small lures but I could only
get it to give an occasional half follow at best and then it would snub it’s
nose at my lure and swim away. Beneath the golden trout I could see dark
shadows on occasion. Which I later learned were rainbow trout after hooking a
few while trying to catch the golden. The golden was swimming right above the
spring and going back in fourth in this one little area, following the school
of rainbows but staying above them most of the time.
It was beginning to look
like a reenactment of the last golden trout hunt, watching the fish refuse
every tactic I presented. I even got desperate and looked for worms under rocks
and insects. I was looking for anything I could impale on a hook. I noticed
when I casted out a small freshly caught worm that it immediately rushed over but put the
breaks on when it got close to the bait and snubbed me again by turning away
and swimming off. I did get the golden to finally suck in the bait after what
seemed like a million casts but it spit out the bait before I could set the
hook. I could remember the frustration I had gone through with the last golden
trout I caught and thought; this is no different, here I go again. I also had
hooked a handful of rainbows but with most coming un-buttoned, adding even more
fuel to my frustration. It was starting to get dark out and I had used up every
option I could think of on hand. Since I was running out of light I decided to
call it quits and try again another time. Even though I still enjoyed the fine
evening weather and landing pickerel, largemouth bass, rainbow trout,
pumpkinseed and bluegills, I still left slightly disappointed.
A couple of days later I decided to head back to the pond
and try my luck again. While driving to the pond I felt pretty confident and
had a new game plan. Before leaving I had taken my reel and put it on another
ultra-light rod I felt had a slight bit more back bone, for a better hook sets,
added a fluorocarbon leader and changed the hook to a small circle gamakatsu
hook. I also picked up some natural baits, mealworms and earthworms. Sometimes
keeping things basic & simple yields better results but that was to be determined. I also brought along an
experimental bait (another story within itself).
I had become slightly obsessed with catching this little golden;
I find them to be the most attractive of all the hatchery-produced trout. When
I pulled in I had hoped the fish was still around and easy to locate. I had
gone straight to the same spot and there it was. I immediately casted out an
earthworm and the fish rushed over and sucked in and then spit out the bait
before I could set the hook. Annoyed but at least I felt more confident
with my new fluorocarbon leader and although the golden seemed a little less
line shy it was still wary and becoming increasingly more cautious with each
cast I took. I then tried a mealworm. I then tried both baits with and without a
bobber. The fish kept coming over and investigating but then would repeatedly
reject me and turn away.
Off to my left through the corner of my eye I was
surprised when I unexpectedly noticed another golden appear out of the weeds,
this one appeared to be a few inches larger but was to far of a cast and
surrounded by clusters of weed. It appeared a few times and then darted back
into the weeds. Not to be seen again after some noisy ducks swam over it. I
refocused myself to the other golden within casting distance and the one I’ve
been repeatedly trying to hook. I was discouraged and scratching my head trying
to figure out my next move. I kept casting until I could think of another plan, hoping the golden would change its mind. But
my spirits were lifted when I
landed an unexpected surprise, a handsome brightly colored tiger trout that
ambushed my bait right before I could lift it out of the water for another
cast. Prior to the tiger trout hook up I landed a handful of rainbow trout and
I was reminded on how much more of a fighter the tiger trout is. It took out
more line and darted in more weeds and had a stronger will to live than the
others (not that the rainbows did not fight well). At one point I was afraid
that my light 4 lb test line would break while I tried guiding the tiger out of
the weeds. I was relieved once I got him onto the bank. A male that sported a
small kype and a array of red, yellow, brown, orange and charcoal colors and
with endless vermiculation markings all over it’s sides. A beautiful specimen.
The first one I know of ever caught in this pond. Though tiger trout are
stocked by the state in small numbers and select waters and not as rare as a
palomino they are still hard to come by and I’m always happy to catch one. Even in this case when their not the target
fish. As far as I was concerned the
tiger would have made my trip but it was back to trying to catch the actual
target fish.
It seemed pretty hopeless at this point, what else was I supposed
to do? Then I decided to see if it would feed at all. I sacrificed a mealworm
and just threw it toward the fish (no line or hook) and the palomino gobbled it
up immediately as it drifted down a bit. Observing this I figured the fish was
extremely line shy or was keying into the speed and action of the baits natural
sink rate toward bottom. I then took another mealworm put it on my hook and made
a soft cast but the fish refused to take it. I noticed the way the bait drifted
down looked different then when it drifted unattached to my line. I started
going through my baits looking for items that I could throw out that might resemble
a similar sinking motion, while still attached to my 4 lb test line. I experimented casting
some baits out in another section of the pond and paying attention on how they
drifted down to the bottom. I found something I thought looked very similar to the natural drift (which ended up being my
experimental bait I had brought) and went back to the spot where the fish was hanging out and casted to it.
At
this time the sunrays were strong and the bottom of the pond lit up a bit
more and I could see both the palomino and a regular rainbow trout heading
toward the bait. The palomino noticed the rainbow darting for my bait and
lunged itself more quickly at the bait, sucking it in and allowing me to
finally get a good hook set on it.
I like to think my drift experiment was a
success and would have also worked even if the other trout was not there to
invoke the golden into biting. But unfortunately at the same time I had to
acknowledge that the golden could have just made a mistake with it’s
instinctive and competitive greedy nature, in having to beat the rainbow to the
food. This could have been the real key factor or maybe a combination of the
two but with what unfolded I would never really know for sure.
However it
didn’t matter anymore as I admired the coloration of the trout. It looked like
a shimmering bar of gold with a florescent pink stripe running through the
middle, mixed with some darker gold leopard like spots on top and a white belly. It
wasn’t a large fish but it’s good looks and rarity more than made up for its
size. I also felt good that I completed my little goal and it took just two
short sessions, each one about 2 hours and not 3 weeks this time. This particular fish however
had both eyes in tact, which perhaps helped speed up the process. I never really expected to catch another palomino and was
grateful for it. I didn’t fish
much longer after catching the palomino but managed another handful of rainbow
trout, while keeping an eye out for any other golden sightings (which didn’t
happen). Probably could have caught some more but I was more than satisfied already
and needed to head home, wash up and get ready for some dinner plans. All fish were released except 1 that was bleeding but
and not looking like it would
survive but it would not go to waste.
Judging from past seasons I was amazed
at the amount of trout still left in the pond. The fishing pressure of the
spring must have lightened up this past season. At quitting time the grand
total was 3 bluegills, 10 rainbows, 1 tiger trout and 1 golden palomino trout
(the target fish). Driving home I thought that was that and maybe I’ll visit
the pond again next year but then again the thought of one more palomino trout
in the pond I haven’t caught yet had me wondering if I’d perhaps be drawn back
to the pond much sooner than I originally anticipate (who knows). Tight lines, George!