Trout Fishing Tip 50
Exotic Fish Take Over, Hybridize & Declines
Years of over exploitation, mismanagement and competition with exotic species have brought these fish to the brink of being designated as threatened. Introduced brook trout out compete them for food, introduced brown trout prey on them and introduced rainbow trout hybridize with them, damaging the native gene pool through ingression.
The golden trout was designated the state fish of California in 1947. Populations have been in steady decline for decades. As a result, the California Department of Fish and Game [1] signed an agreement with federal agencies in September 2004 to work on restoring back-country habitat. Conservationists have also been attempting to introduce golden trout to other waters such as to Lake Mohave in Nevada and Arizona.