A granger and bull trout.

[Dave Westburg]

When the snow hits the cascades foothills it's time to take my 7 weight bamboo rods in search of bull trout. Took my Granger 9660 out today. A 9'6" 6.2 ounce 7 weight. It has the backbone to throw a 15' sink tip across the broad tailouts which bull trout are fond of. Paired it with a Farlows President reel, a 15 foot sink tip line and some Alaska MaryAnn wet flies. Found enough fish to keep things interesting.



The drawback with a thickly dressed hair wing like the Alaska Mary Ann is that it wants to float on the surface. After a while I switched to slim new england style streamers (Supervisor, White Ghost and Col Bates) which sink faster. Have a few Silver Ladies in the fly wallet as well which I plan to fish some time in honor of Haig-Brown.


An eagle and an osprey kept me company. Slim pickings for them right now. Very few chum in the shallows.

 

[LeoCreek]

Very nice! All the bull trout I have caught were in NW Montana...on fiberglass and graphite. Well done!

 

[Dave Westburg]

These bull trout are a little different from their Montana cousins in that about one third head to the salt water each year, one-third stay in fresh water year round and one-third wander back and forth as their fancies take them. They also have lighter silvery sides than their Montana cousins.

 

[@Dryflyphotography]

So cool to read your report, and hearing you fishing that GV9660 is the icing on the cake!

 

[Greg Armstrong]

Bulls on bamboo.. what's not to like! Great report!

 

[@Dryflyphotography]

These bull trout are a little different from their Montana cousins in that about one third head to the salt water each year, one-third stay in fresh water year round and one-third wander back and forth as their fancies take them. They also have lighter silvery sides than their Montana cousins.
View attachment 91382

For those that head to the salt for extended periods, do they come back up the rivers each year, perhaps in fall to feed behind the redds?

 

[Dave Westburg]

I know that part of the salt migration of the Skagit/Sauk bulls is to be in the river mouths when the salmon fry are exiting. Look at this chart of bull trout use of Skagit Bay. It peaks in May and June when the salmon fry are migrating. There's another peak in the fall, maybe when they are following the salmon back into the river? Maybe Smalma can weigh in on this.

 

[flybill]

I've had a great time with bulls on the Skagit with Mike Kinney and on my own. Hooked and landed a bunch, while fishing for steelhead with him. Now I need to use my boo rods! Will be fun on a five weight! Hell ya! On my 100 year old silk line.. even better!

 

[Roper]

Love the photos Dave!

 

[Smalma]

For those interested in the behaviors and other observations of the north Sound bull trout the article section of this site has the "Skagit bull trout primer." I would refer those interested in these critters to those 5 chapters. If that read generates questions or need for a clarification, I would be happy to deal with specifics. In the meantime, enjoy your pursuit of our native bull trout.

Curt

 

[Smalma]

Over the last 35 years or so I have noticed a significant change in the portion of the Skagit bull trout that have the fluvial or anadromous life histories. In the 1980s and early 1990s the majority of the adult bull trout and most of the larger fish appeared to be fluvial fish. That changed in the later 1990s with the anadromous life history now representing the fish majority of the adults.

I think that change has been drive by two factors. The first was the regulation change in 1990 where a minimum size limit (20 inches) was established with a reduced bag limit (2) This effectively eliminated much of the lower river sub adult (fish in that 10-to-17-inch range). This seemed to favor the anadromous fish. The other was a significant change in the upper main river habitat and the co-existing fish species. Over the recent decades we have seen a flattening of the main stem channel with more runs and fewer and shallower pools reducing the bulls preferred holding area. With those channel changes and perhaps Puget Sound conditions we are now seeing a lot fewer chum salmon spawning limiting a major food source for the bulls during the key late fall/early winter post spawn recovery period. But perhaps even more important has been the collapse of the whitefish population. Up to the late 1990s/early 2000s one of my most effective patterns was a whitefish parr pattern, aka bull trout candy.

While I don't fish the bulls like I once did my sense is that with the above changes the much of the mainstem fishery during the mid-winter and spring fishery. During the 1990s and early 2000s during the spring CnR fishery I rarely targeted the steelhead and the excellent fishery they produced to focus on bull trout. During that time daily catches of bulls were well into double figures with a surprising by-catch of those steelhead.

Curt

 

[Dave Westburg]

"...daily catches of bulls were well into double figures with a surprising by-catch of those steelhead..." Sounds like some amazing fishing Curt. Under today's conditions I'm happy with a 3-5 fish day.

Agree with you that there are fewer chum in the river. DryFlyPhotography and I took our 9' Phillipson 7 weights out today and didn't see a salmon. We found a few bulls on a size 8 Black Ghost streamer...

 

[Matt B]

But perhaps even more important has been the collapse of the whitefish population. Up to the late 1990s/early 2000s one of my most effective patterns was a whitefish parr pattern, aka bull trout candy

This is the first I have heard of a whitefish population collapse. Is anyone monitoring whitefish, like at all? Is your statement based on empirical data or personal observation, and is it specific to the Skagit/Sauk or North Sound rivers, or beyond?

 

[Matt B]

"...daily catches of bulls were well into double figures with a surprising by-catch of those steelhead..." Sounds like some amazing fishing Curt. Under today's conditions I'm happy with a 3-5 fish day.

Agree with you that there are fewer chum in the river. DryFlyPhotography and I took our 9' Phillipson 7 weights out today and didn't see a salmon. We found a few bulls on a size 8 Black Ghost streamer...
View attachment 91909

Guess I don’t need to bother with that run for a while; Dave’s been hammering it.

 

[Smalma]

This is the first I have heard of a whitefish population collapse. Is anyone monitoring whitefish, like at all? Is your statement based on empirical data or personal observation, and is it specific to the Skagit/Sauk or North Sound rivers, or beyond?

Matt -
Based on personal observation, don't think anyone is monitoring them. During the 1980s and early 1990s on the upper Skagit if target them catches of dozens of whitefish was not only possible but expected. Notice in the mid-1990s the number seemed to be dropping and the average size increasing. By the late 1990s I could only find a very few of them which were 16/18-inch fish. Since then, I have made periodic trips to some of the old haunts can't find more than a whitefish or two. In the same water I see much fewer steelhead parr. Prior to 1990 typically 10% of the wild steelhead spawning in the basin used the mainstem river above the Sauk. Now the last time I looked (about 5 years ago) that usage was down to less than 4%. I suspect that the simplication of that main stem habitat and loss of the complex habitat features that salmonid parr require to over winter is the root cause of the decline of the whitefish, steelhead and bull trout and the apparent decline of yearling life history Chinook using the mainstem.

While my observations on that stretch of the river only goes back to the mid-1970s I think the changes I have seen are real and at least to me concerning.

Curt

 

[Matt B]

@Smalma thanks!