"rw" wrote in message
m...

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.

Yes although Bull Trout are thriving in a good many watersheds (most notably
the Metolious and Lake Billy Chinook here in Oregon where 10-15# Bulls are
commonly caught), and I have a hard time keeping them of my hook when
Steelheading on the Lower Grande Ronde, they are on the Endangered Species
List because of the drastic decline in their distribution and the number of
watersheds where they are struggling to hold on. Because of their listed
status, it is illegal to kill them anywhere in ID, OR, CA, WA, MT, or NV.,
and in many areas, including the Lower Grande Ronde, it is illegal to
specifically target them at all.

Bob Weinberger