IF YOU READ PART ONE OF “A GOLDEN TALE,” YOU KNOW THAT catching any size golden trout takes a huge effort. Getting big golden trout also takes timing and a little luck. Plan your trip early; you just cannot get into the high country too late or the fish move to deep water and will be hard to access. There may always be some stream fish, but those fish are smaller and still have parr markings. My 2006 golden trout trip to the Wind River Mountains in central Wyoming was with the San
Pedro Flycasters from Sierra Vista, Arizona. Nine of us put 7 hours on horseback to get into golden trout country. At 11,000 feet, our spot camp was well protected from the elements, and it was still a 2½-hour hike to Elbow Lake, our target lake for jumbo goldens. A full day of hard fishing did not yield a single fish. We missed the timing slot; the fish had moved to deep water beyond our casting abilities.

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