A little-known fact is that the streams flowing easterly off the crest of the southern Sierra Nevada contained no native trout. In 1876, 13 golden trout were taken by a man named Colonel Stevens and his crew from a small tributary to the South Fork Kern River (Mulkey Creek) and transported in a coffee pot over the Hockett trail to Cottonwood Creek, a distance of about four miles. Stevens' desire to have fish in Cottonwood Creek near his sawmill resulted in what may have been the first transplant of golden trout into waters other than their native habitat, the full significance of which he would never realize.
Regardless of their origins, these fish are still one of the most beautiful wild animals in our region and have earned the title of California State fish. They are truly something to behold in nature and it’s a treat to get a close look at one. On this particular trip I decided to try something a little different. I didn’t get my rod out of the van once. Instead I spent two days capturing underwater images of fish. Using a few different GoPro’s and anchoring systems I rotated around placing cameras underwater set on photo time-lapse mode. Over the course of two days I shot over 30,000 underwater images and a few regular 4k videos. Using time-lapse, I was able to film a pool for long durations and turn those clips into a few seconds of footage. It’s a unique perspective to see how the fish feed and interact. Most of the time I’d set the cameras then walk away so the fish would go back to their normal habits. You only get the real story much later after going through the photos and stitching the clips together. I hope you enjoy this short clip of California Golden Trout in the wild.
Cheers,
Michael E. Wier
Spot Check continued