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Bull trout write up from usfw


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#1 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 29 August 2014 - 01:24 PM

a cross between brook trout and Predator, from the looks of the picture...

one cool fish.

http://usfwspacific....-future-in-cold
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#2 DocEsox

DocEsox
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Posted 25 April 2015 - 02:36 PM

That is truly an accurate description of the bull trout.  I have probably caught a few thousand in Montana....primarily from the Swan River.  It's population is one of the few that has not been messed up badly as they spawn out of Swan Lake up the Swan River which is only about 100 miles long.  They have maintained their numbers in the Swan drainage while they have plummeted in the Flathead  River drainage (due to all sorts of bad decisions in the 70's which destroyed the ecology of Flathead Lake).  The problem in the Swan River drainage is hybridization with introduced brook trout.  Some tributaries of Flathead Lake have been totally overcome with the hybrids.....getting rid of the brook trout is tantamount to getting rid of rabbits.  A certain percentage of the F1 hybrids are fertile and just increase the problem.  Personally I smack every hybrid I catch and enjoy throwing them on the barbie for dinner.  Problem is most people can't tell brook trout from bull trout, let alone the hybrids.  Technically you cannot directly fish for them (except in the south fork of the Flathead River), but years ago I would catch 30 to 40 in a day.  Many times I had the big bulls chase smaller rainbows or brookies while they were hooked.  They are truly a magnificent charr, especially in spawning colors.  They are in danger in most of the US but fortunately are very healthy through British Columbia and north.






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