California Golden Trout

• The California golden trout, California's official state fish, is native to the upper Kern River Basin. The upper Kern River Basin is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains. Through fish stocking, California golden trout populations exist in more than 200 mountain lakes and streams, such as Cottonwood Lakes and Volcano Creek. The California golden trout average 5 to 7 inches long. They are yellow-gold to olive-green, with small black dots on their fins and tails and long back squares (parr marks) on their sides. They also have two red stripes. One stripe runs along the trout's side and another runs along its belly. They spawn early to midsummer and can live up to seven years. California Trout, a conservation group based in San Francisco, estimates that the California golden trout has a high likelihood of extinction because of hybridization with the coastal rainbow trout, damage to its habitats from livestock grazing and competition with non-native brown trout.