Bullies
I had read about bull trout in books but was totally unprepared for what was about to happen next. I had hooked a small whitefish on the Metolius River on a size 18 beadhead pheasant tail nymph and was bringing him in for a release. The whitefish was thrashing when suddenly I saw a huge, dark shape appear from nowhere. I knew immediately what the dark shape was… but it still took a second or two for me to register what was happening. A huge bull trout grabbed the whitefish like a dog with a bone and headed towards deep water. For a few seconds I was fighting the monster as he refused to let go of the whitefish.
I have been fishing for lingcod my entire life and have landed many “hitchhiker” lingcod. A hitchhiker is when you are bringing up a rockfish and there is a bigger lingcod that tries to eat it at some point after you have hooked the rockfish. Some of my biggest lingcod of all time have been hitchhikers. They will grab on and not let go… even though they are rarely hooked. Anyhow, the secret to landing a hitchhiker is to bring it up very slowly and keep its head in the water… so it never really knows that it is in danger.
For a brief second I thought I might actually land the behemoth bull trout, figuring my experience with the hitchhiker lings might come into play. But, unfortunately that was not to be and I felt the monster let go and the whitefish easily came to hand. There were huge rake marks on the fish where the bull trout has grabbed it but surprisingly it was still lively. I said a quick prayer for it and slid it back into the water.
Ever since that experience I have been fascinated with bull trout. They are amazing predators and love to eat other fish. They get big and are aggressive… what is not to love?! Amazingly they used to be considered a trash fish and were killed in many streams and thrown on the bank… similar to what we might do to a carp these days. Truth be told… they are awesome creatures and require very cold and clean water to survive. This is one of the reasons their populations have been in decline and special regulations were put into effect to protect them.
They used to be called dolly varden and it wasn’t until 1991 that the two species were differentiated. We could go into the scientifics but to simplify… if it goes to the ocean it is a dolly varden and if it doesn’t go to the ocean it is a bull trout. They have some very unique physical characteristics that allow them to survive in very high gradient rivers, including a very sloped head that allows the fast water to push the fish down to the bottom and deflect the current.
One of the highlights of my career with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was doing some snorkel surveys on the McKenzie River looking for juvenile bull trout. What really blew me away was how amazingly well they blended in with their environment. I could easily see the rainbows and other species of trout but the juvenile bull trout were like ghosts. I remember one seam on the river where I was only a few feet above a particular bull trout and he kept disappearing on me as I tried to track him.
Anyhow, fast forward to the early 2000s when I got a stream survey job on the Warm Springs River, tributary to the Deschutes in Oregon. I met my stream survey partner at a lake called “Billy Chinook”. I couldn’t believe how beautiful this lake was. It is something right out of a travel magazine.
I did some research and realized that this lake was one of the premiere lakes in the world for trophy bull trout. I pulled out my delorme, (this was before iPhones!) and found an area that looked promising. I called up my two brothers and off we went. We parked at the edge of a canyon and hiked down to a tributary that flowed into the lake and it was on! We caught a bunch of smaller bull trout and even a few nice browns. I remember how struck I was with the beautiful pink spots on the bull trout. Now my appetite was whetted and I knew that I had to put myself into some of the larger variety.
A few years later I got a chance to fish with a couple of buddies who had the bigger fish dialed and we put the hurt on them. We put scads of fish over 8 pounds in the boat, (all released) and managed a bunch over 10 for the trip. I managed two piggies in the 13 pound range on AC Plug Originals. The bull trout were on the kokanee, big time. I have never seen so much activity, with fish chasing kokanee out of the water on several occasions. We trolled shallow and the bulls were jumping on our lures early and late.
They hit hard and dogged, reminding me of how splake fight. Bulls are not acrobatic jumpers or line burning runners but they “do work” and I respect their fighting ability. They are definitely the biggest and baddest bully on the block and we caught several fish that proved it. They had kokanee hanging out of their mouth and were still eating our lures. Amazing!
I plan on returning to Lake Billy Chinook someday to chase these amazing fish… but with a twist. I am not going to troll, only cast. I am going to use my largemouth bass gear and have some fun with these bad boys. Who knows… maybe I will get lucky and stick a fish over 15 pounds. If you ever get a chance to chase these bullies, take that chance, it is worth it!
Mark Knoch
