Nobody Likes a Bully…

Except these bullies, we all like these…..DSC_7978.jpegDSC_7977.jpeg
I fished the run in front of camp after dinner last night. I was fishing a dry dropper set up from earlier in the day. I hooked a nice cutty on the dry and then things got interesting.

I saw the fish that ate my beetle and it was a decent fish but about halfway through the fight it started to pull harder than I would have expected a fish of that size. As it came back down stream toward me, I could see it being chased. The fish was still 15-20 feet away but I could see the bull trout right on his ass. They both turned back up stream and then the rod got really heavy and line began peeling through my fingers. I had them both hooked!

It was quite a rodeo for about 15-20 seconds. Somewhere in that tussle the smaller fish came off the top fly but the bull trout was still connected. I assumed the fish must have become foul hooked during the chase but was pleasantly surprised to raise his head when I applied some pressure. After a few minutes, and clutch net job by my wife, I had landed my first bull trout😀. The stoke level was high! I was so happy to see my size 16 perdigon pinned in the nose of that bull trout. I really didn’t want my first bull trout to have been foul hooked.

My wife has never used my camera before so we did a quick tutorial and was able to capture a couple decent pics.
 
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Bullies don't fight! Or maybe it's Dollies...I can't recall. I can remember that whenever I got hit at the very end of a swing on the Skagit targeting steelhead it was always a Bully (or Dollie) and gave it up pretty quick. Beautiful fish though.
 
Bullies don't fight! Or maybe it's Dollies...I can't recall. I can remember that whenever I got hit at the very end of a swing on the Skagit targeting steelhead it was always a Bully (or Dollie) and gave it up pretty quick. Beautiful fish though.
I’ve encountered quite a few Skagit system bull char that would beg to differ with that assessment.
 
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