Bob Weinberger wrote:
"MajorOz" wrote in message
...



The big fish caught by Pitt just before his was killed was a Dolly
Varden, or maybe a Bull Trout -- they are almost identical.
But what he was fighting as he swam downstream was a plastic bucket.


I am very familiar with Bull Trout (As far as I know there are no Dolly
Varden in MT. They are generally restricted to streams w/ direct access to
the Pacific , though about the only way to tell the 2 species apart is
through DNA testing) and I remember the fish shown as kept definately being
a Rainbow. In fact I remember commenting to my wife at the time that I
wished they had used a fish that wasn't so obviously a hatchery broodstock
fish (rounded tail fin, worn down dorsal, etc.). BTW Bull Trout are listed
as "Threatened" on the Endangered Species List so they woudn't have been
allowed to kill one.

Bob Weinberger

Bull Trout are doing quite well in central Idaho. In recent years I've
been catching some with dry flies, which is strange because they're fish
eaters. I once caught a large one that took a 10" stocker rainbow that
I'd hooked. I was horsing the stocker in when it suddenly seemed like
I'd hooked a submarine.

The largest bull trout I've ever seen was at Kelly Creek. It was a
female, well over 30" it appeared, in the fall spawning season, being
followed around by several smaller males. I made a good presentation
with a woolly bugger (Willi was watching from the cliff above), but it
refused.

I fish for them on the lakes right after ice-out. They're pretty tired
and skinny and hungry after the long winter, but it's the only action
available at the time.

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