Rhode Island Fishing Report

The Quest For The Golden Rainbow Trout

Ever since I learned of the existence of the golden rainbow trout, it had been a personal goal of mine to catch one. After I caught my first muskie in 2017, the golden rainbow trout had taken over as number one on my new species wish list. I had seen some photos of goldens caught from Massachusetts at private clubs, but thought no way am I getting in there. I had actually never even expected to catch one anywhere in New England for that matter until I learned of their existence in certain Rhode Island ponds. I made one attempt for this fish last year and came up empty, and was determined to write a different story this time. This year from April 13-29, there was an event called Go for the Gold where golden rainbow trout were stocked in select ponds and anyone who caught one could send a photo the Rhode Island DEM and receive a golden trout pin. I got up at 4 am that morning and left at about 4:30 am to drive to the pond. Despite arriving at about 5:45 am, there were about 20 other people fishing. For this reason, I will not tell the exact pond where I fished. I will however, leave a link to a document where all ponds stocked with golden rainbow trout are listed. In addition to the fact that it poured buckets on us that morning, it was difficult fishing, and there were no consistent spots. For the first two hours, I saw plenty of rainbows and goldens being caught, but my rainbow powerbait eggs didn't get a sniff. I ended up switching to my old favorite, brown powerbait, and within 5 minutes, I caught myself an 8 inch rainbow. I thought to myself "Well, at least I got something unlike last year." I took a picture of the little rainbow and then released it. Maybe 30 minutes later, I caught another rainbow about 11 inches. I intended to release this rainbow as well, but he was hooked deep and bleeding so i kept him. Afterwards the bite went dead, and many anglers left, while remaining anglers around me continued to catch fish. At about 11:30 am, an elderly couple walked down to a spot where the goldens schooled up, and they began nailing fish left and right while nobody else on the pond caught anything. I watched them catch golden after golden and finally, I couldn't take it anymore, so I walked up and asked if I could squeeze in with them, make a cast, and catch one golden. They told me I was more than welcome to do so. I made my cast and within 5 minutes, I got a bite. As I reeled in the fish, I saw golden rainbow struggling on the end of my line. My heart began to race as I thought "This is it, I finally have one!" I got the fish to shore and beached it. I was beside myself, the golden rainbow trout was absolutely gorgeous, so I took some time to take photos and admire it. I said thank you to the couple, and had every intention of leaving, but the woman said to me "Get your line back out there. Catch another one." I reminded her that I said I would only try for the one fish, but she still insisted that I catch another one. I thanked her once again, then made another cast, and shortly afterwards, I caught another golden rainbow trout. By that time, it was 12:30 pm, and I had to leave because I had family plans later that night. I kept both of the goldens because they stand out to predators more since they are so bright. They taste similar to rainbow trout, only their meat is softer. I sent the picture of my 2 golden trout to the Rhode Island DEM, and within 2 weeks, I received a golden trout pin along with a letter from the organizer of the Go for the Gold event congratulating me on catching a golden rainbow trout and thanking me for participating in the event. Here is a link to where you can find all Rhode Island ponds stocked with golden rainbow trout http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwild/pdf/go-for-the-gold.pdf

• Added By: newenglandangler on 08/01/19 02:02 PM
• Location: Rhode Island
• Report Date: 4/13/2019
• # of Hotspots: 1
• # of Photos: 6
• # of Fish Caught: 4
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