First time angler with an incidental bull on a stone nymph. Nice!
Each year during the run-off season we get a couple patches of cool weather that will provide windows of opportunity on our freestone rivers. We just had a window. It’s now pouring down rain and the window has closed, but it was nice to get out on our local river and scoop a couple big ones. Run-off is not over. Will we get another window soon? When will the Flathead come in this year? Salmon flies on the Blackfoot by mid June? Hard to say….we can use all our perfect rules of measure to formulate a guess, but only Mother Nature knows.
Owner/Outfitter/Janitor at Bigfork Anglers Fly Shop
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All bull trout even shall be released immediately. No time for that my friend. What would happen if that first time angler dropped that slimy fish?
This fish is actually a brook/bull hybrid. There are lots of them around here. Hard to tell from the picture but slight vermicultion was present. I have confirmed this problem with local FWP biologists and it is readily known. Hard to tell from the pic but the fish was held over 2 feet of water, the same rule that applies for wild steelhead. If you like these fish you should hope that FWP doesn’t start a hybrid suppression project and remove them from the system like they are doing in the Flathead River with cutthroat that are less than 90% pure. Then it won’t matter how you hold them, they will be removed like the cuttbows of the Flathead drainage. Let’s hope not…
These fish are actually sterile. Here’s a few links so you can freshen up on the happenings of our local fisheries.
Flathead River Hybrid Trout Suppression Project
Bull/Brook Hybrids