Opening of trout season is just golden

John Litwicki of Joliet caught his first gold colored rainbow trout on opening day of fall trout season Illinois. The beautiful opening day drew thousands in the Chicago area to the 17 stocked local sites.

Most years there are a smattering, sometimes more, of gold colored rainbows (gold, yellow or pale) caught. Three years ago Illinois fisheries chief Mike McClelland said they are a color variant of the rainbow trout the state receives from hatcheries.

They are not golden trout, which are a separate species generally found in California's higher elevations. California's state freshwater fish is “[widely] regarded as one of the most beautiful trout in the world,” crows the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A multitude of baits work for stocked rainbows in Illinois: PowerBait, Gulp!, red worms, small minnows, corn, small jigs, small spinners, small spoons, etc. Litwicki caught his on Berkley PowerBait Crappie Nibbles while fishing in Cook County.