Lakes Taylor and O’Brien mountain fishing trip!

[58thecat]

Well not sure where this post belongs as we did some spin casting and fly fishing in two simply beautiful lakes!
The hike in soon had us not chatting as much and took three hours to Taylor lake in which we camped there then the next day was a much easier hike into O’Brien lake for a day trip.
We caught only cutties but man the colours were simply stunning on some then toss in the back drop well I believe we had a piece of heaven!
The walk out was only two hours with lots of chatter due to the going downhill and we ate most of the grub!
All I can say if you ever want to take a hike to toss a few flies or spinners these are two beauty lakes.
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[Lastcast]

Those are great photo's! Those are the kind that make me want to head out right now!

[EZM]

Nothing more spectacular than seeing true, pure strain, westslope cutthroat trout that have not been inter bred with rainbows.

They look so amazing.

On the lower reaches of most watersheds, what people think are cutthroats are actually cutbows. Inbred and soiled by those dirty fornicating rainbows !! :)

Great pictures - love them.

[fishpro]

Nothing more spectacular than seeing true, pure strain, westslope cutthroat trout that have not been inter bred with rainbows.

They look so amazing.

On the lower reaches of most watersheds, what people think are cutthroats are actually cutbows. Inbred and soiled by those dirty fornicating rainbows !! :)

Great pictures - love them.

Actually, the fish in Taylor Lake are all Yellowstone cutthroats, no westslopes in there. Parks' records show that the fish in O'Brien were a mix of cutthroat hybrids. You can tell the Yellowstones from westslopes by the larger spots that are more evenly distributed front to back, top to bottom.

[Sundancefisher]

Great looking trip!

[58thecat]

https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_oncorhynchus_clarkii_lewisi_e.pdf

Page 43 talks about Yellowstone cutties.


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[58thecat]

https://fwresearch.ca/Library_files/Mayhood%202009a.pdf

Page 26 talks about Yellowstone cutties too

Interesting.


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[58thecat]

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Fly they seem to like was called a stimmie that my son had great success on.


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[goldscud]

Awesome pics.
I wonder if Parks has those Yellowstones in the crosshairs

[58thecat]

Awesome pics.
I wonder if Parks has those Yellowstones in the crosshairs


If they do we should be able to catch and cook!


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[ÜberFly]

As far as I know, they are all Yellowstone Cutthroat in both those lakes, though there may be a few Westslopes left.

P

Nothing more spectacular than seeing true, pure strain, westslope cutthroat trout that have not been inter bred with rainbows.

They look so amazing.

On the lower reaches of most watersheds, what people think are cutthroats are actually cutbows. Inbred and soiled by those dirty fornicating rainbows !! :)

Great pictures - love them.

[fishpro]

Awesome pics.
I wonder if Parks has those Yellowstones in the crosshairs

I've emailed a bit with the biologist that has been working on some of the other eradication projects, and right now these ones are not in the crosshairs. They only receive so much funding and must allocate it to locations that have the best odds of protecting / restoring westslope populations.

[58thecat]

If they want he Yellowstone cutties to be gone then give us a limit.
Hope they are not just killing them off if so what a waste.
Example where we were if they said we could keep a few for a meal then we would have been very happy to have a fresh trout meal.


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[EZM]

Actually, the fish in Taylor Lake are all Yellowstone cutthroats, no westslopes in there. Parks' records show that the fish in O'Brien were a mix of cutthroat hybrids. You can tell the Yellowstones from westslopes by the larger spots that are more evenly distributed front to back, top to bottom.

https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_oncorhynchus_clarkii_lewisi_e.pdf

Page 43 talks about Yellowstone cutties.


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That is good information gentlemen. This led me to reading a little about this species - looks like these are transplanted from their native range here in the 20's when the parks service was doing all sorts of crazy things - like putting in Atlantic Salmon, Small Mouth Bass and Kokanee into Minnewanka (none of which survived).

Yellowstone cuts are beautiful fish nevertheless.

Scenery like that is amazing.

[BisonDreams]

Those are great pictures! A buddy and I are headed up to Taylor this week for a night. Hopefully we have as much luck as you!!

[58thecat]

Those are great pictures! A buddy and I are headed up to Taylor this week for a night. Hopefully we have as much luck as you!!


You will be treated to a new bear cache, new outhouse, fire pit and lots of already cut fire wood!
We found the cutties to be in the deep water further up the lake on either side.
Where the campsite is it was shallow with the odd one rolling.
Good luck.


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[McLeod]

Both lakes were original stocked with West Slopes in the 1930's ..So some remnants maybe hanging around in Taylor.

[McLeod]

great pictures thanks for sharing.

[tirebob]

Looking a little lean those trout hey? Beautiful fish otherwise though!

[58thecat]

Looking a little lean those trout hey? Beautiful fish otherwise though!

Athletic is what I call’em....surface dancers that had me wishing I could break out the frying pan, would have been great eating.:)