The largest golden trout resided in Lightning Lake, where 

 immature fish were rarely captured. Hidden Lake #2 had indica- 

 tions of a low density, good growth situation. Large, esthetic 

 fish were common to Sawtooth and Fourmile Basin Creek Lake #4 

 where food organisms were abundant. 



Numerous collecting efforts of golden trout in Lightning and 

 Sylvan lakes suggested hardships were typical during winter 

 months. Fish were of slighter body, weights registered lighter 

 and condition factors averaged five digits lower in the early 

 spring. Fish, however, filled out markedly by spawning season in 

 early July. Larger females had fewer and smaller scales than 

 smaller fish. Large males rarely had remqvable scales, just 

 heavy pigmented skin. 



Golden trout in Sylvan and Lightning lakes enter their first 

 winter at less than 1 month of age at a mean size of 1.2 inches. 

 No scales were formed the first winter. Juveniles grew during 

 the winter and were between 3.0 and 4.0 inches at ice breakup. 

 By Age I, they ranged from 4.3 to 5.5 inches. 



In the other populations of golden trout in Montana, juve- 

 niles observed in late August 1981 were larger than those living 

 at the higher altitudes of Sylvan and Lightning lakes. However, 

 at Age Group II, most of these fish averaged smaller than goldens 

 in Lightning and Sylvan lakes. 



The oldest goldens examined in Montana were a population of 

 now extinct, known-age, 14-year-old fish in West Boulder Lake in 

 the Absaroka Mountain Range. They ranged from 14.3 to 18.2 

 inches and were sexually ripe during the spring of their 14th 

 year (Marcuson 1976). 



The State of Montana record for golden trout captured by an 

 angler (in 1981) was 20.5 inches, 3.14 pounds. This fish was one 

 of a few left in Lake at Falls in the Beartooth Mountains. The 

 largest unofficial record was a fish estimated at 14 pounds. 

 This large fish was trapped, stripped of eggs and released in 

 Lightning Lake in 1975 by the author. 



Condition factors ranged from a low of 31.3 for a one-fish 

 sample in Blue Danube to 52.1 for goldens from Lightning Lake. 

 Condition factors (C = 100.000 W) for each lake averaged as 

 follows: L^ 



Blue Danube 31.3 



Golden Trout 35.8 



Hidden #5, 6 & 7 35.8 



Fourmile Basin #4 38.9 



Sawtooth 41.6 



Heart 42.5 



The mean condition factor in Cottonv 

 1934) . 



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