Bull Trout vs Dollies

I have caught my fair share of bull trout in the past 50 years. Never targeted them but a nice surprise catching one for sure. They are beautiful for sure...

I have always heard that they are like the 'canary in the coal mine' aka quality/cleanliness of the drainage. So I enjoy catching one knowing that they are still there....
 
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chrome/22 said:
Can the two species interbreed and produce viable offspring?
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"In the past, coastal native char were considered Dolly Varden and native char in inland waters were considered bull trout. Cavender (1978) demonstrated that bull trout and Dolly Varden were separate species and believed the geographic range of bull trout and Dolly Varden overlapped in the Puget Sound area of Washington and along the British Columbia coast. Researchers using morphometric techniques have found no clear separation of the two species in Washington and that bull trout or a morphologically intermediate, or hybrid form predominated, even in coastal waters (Johnson and Mongillo, 1991; Kraemer, 1991). However, Crane et al. (1994) and others (reviewed by Utter 1994) demonstrated that genetic data can differentiate the two species. Use of genetic methods has recently documented the presence of pure Dolly Varden in Washington, that pure bull trout are present both east and west of the Cascade crest, and that the two species occur sympatrically in two of Western Washington’s water sheds, the Quinault River system (Leary and Allendorf 1997, Spruell and Allendorf 1997) and the Nooksack River system (Sewell Young, pers. comm., WDFW). Baxter et al. (1997) using molecular analysis confirmed the presence of natural hybrids and backcrosses between bull trout and Dolly Varden in the Thutade Lake drainage in north central British Columbia, and concluded that despite some apparent introgression, the two species appear to be maintaining distinct genomes."

from this, document page 3: https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00930

They are citing this: https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/f96-289
 
It should not be too confusing about whether the fish is a bull trout or Dolly Varden. Based on current state of our knowledge if it is caught in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Utah or eastern Washington it is a bull trout. In Western Washington if caught in the salt or anywhere other than the Sol Duc above the falls, a couple headwater streams in the Nooksack, Stillaguamish or the Quinault it is a bull trout.

Yes, hybrids between the two have been found in the Thutade lake drainage as well as a couple Skagit tribs. above Ross lake (also in BC) but that does confuse or invalid the two species and more than the more common rainbow and cutthroat hybrid.

The fact that it has taken folks decades to unravel the questions surrounding bull trout and Dolly Varden only adds to the allure of the species complex.

And yes, I admit I'm huge bull trout fan!

Curt
 
Smalma said:
It should not be too confusing about whether the fish is a bull trout or Dolly Varden. Based on current state of our knowledge if it is caught in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Utah or eastern Washington it is a bull trout. In Western Washington if caught in the salt or anywhere other than the Sol Duc above the falls, a couple headwater streams in the Nooksack, Stillaguamish or the Quinault it is a bull trout.

Yes, hybrids between the two have been found in the Thutade lake drainage as well as a couple Skagit tribs. above Ross lake (also in BC) but that does confuse or invalid the two species and more than the more common rainbow and cutthroat hybrid.

The fact that it has taken folks decades to unravel the questions surrounding bull trout and Dolly Varden only adds to the allure of the species complex.

And yes, I admit I'm huge bull trout fan!

Curt
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My 3 year old daughter asks me my favorite fish fairly often, and now my 7 year old tells her "Bulls charlie!! They LIVE here, all the time!"
 
Lumpers vs. splitters
 
Smalma said:
It should not be too confusing about whether the fish is a bull trout or Dolly Varden. Based on current state of our knowledge if it is caught in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Utah or eastern Washington it is a bull trout. In Western Washington if caught in the salt or anywhere other than the Sol Duc above the falls, a couple headwater streams in the Nooksack, Stillaguamish or the Quinault it is a bull trout.

Curt
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Curt, did you mean "Dollie Varden" in this last mention?

All the fishermen I've ever been around when catching a sea run char on the OP refers to it as a Dolly.


Brad
 
chrome/22 said:
Curt, did you mean "Dollie Varden" in this last mention?

All the fishermen I've ever been around when catching a sea run char on the OP refers to it as a Dolly.


Brad
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While we anglers often refer to our native char as "Dolly Varden" even though we know they are bull trout (all habitats are hard to break). All the data I have seen regarding anadromous char in Western Washington including those from the Hoh indicates they all are bull trout.

Curt
 
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