Buhler was right. There was absolutely no mistaking it. The Kern River rainbow has a vibrancy in color, all of its colors, that simply isn’t present in its hatchery imposters. The back of the fish was more densely clustered with darker and more defined spots, the rose coloring along its lateral line was more clearly defined and the most telltale mark, the white edges along its fins, were clearly defined.
Kern River Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti) Species summary and status: Kern River rainbow trout look similar to Coastal rainbow trout, have a slight gold hint. They have many fine, irregular spots all over their bodies, and larger fish may have a rosy streak along their sides. They can also be identified by the distinctive
California golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita) Species summary and status: The state fish of California, California golden trout once occupied about 450 miles of stream habitat in the upper South Fork Kern River and the adjacent Golden Trout Creek. Currently, the trout is native only to two high-altitude watersheds in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. The
Sometimes you get what you ask for. Sometimes you get much more, but my experience pursuing Lahontans served me a reminder that things worth having are always worth earning.
Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) Species Summary and Status: The Lahontan cutthroat trout is native to the Lahontan Basin of northern Nevada, northeastern California, and southeastern Oregon. One of the oldest lineages of cutthroat trout, it originally inhabited the ancient Lahontan Basin at least several 100,000 years ago. As of publication, 72 self-sustaining Lahontan
The Klamath River is one of the country’s most beleaguered watersheds. But on July 27 the Oregon Public Utilities Commission provided some good news, when the agency approved an order granting transfer of four old fish-blocking dams to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation so they can be taken out.
“New Mexicans have been here on this land for more than 400 years,” Mitchell said. “You can’t come in with a ‘trout guy’ perspective. These are age old relationships that we have to foster and work together with to build trust.”
