rw

It happened about 2 hours ago. I was nymphing right near town. On the
second cast I hooked a fish, which immediately jumped and I saw it was a
typical 10" stocker (presumably) I'd expect to find in this spot. I
started bulling it into my net with my 5x tippet when the fish started
pulling like a submarine. It took line relentlessly and wouldn't show
itself on the surface. I must have fought it for 15 minutes before I
landed a large, fat Bull Trout -- I'd guess about 25 inches -- with my
#16 PT nymph in its jaw.

rw

One time, many years ago when I was about six****, I was fishing poppers
on a Maryland farm pound, catching many bluegills and the occasional
largemouth. The same thing happened to me, but it was more like a 3lb
bass, and the poor bluegill was stuck in the poor bass's gills.

I haven't done any warmwater flyfishing in too many years.

I really wonder whatever happened to that stocker. He may have got
away Scot free.

scott seidman

My bet is rw time warped, and the fish just aged.

Scott
....let's do the time warp again...

rw

You have a point, Skwalla. Bull Trout tend to be long rather than fat --
lethal weapons. This one was particularly healthy looking, with colorful
spots. It fought like a demon. My not-so-unlikely guess is that, like
the otters and the ospreys, the Bull Trout are feasting on stockers.

I saw three adult otters playing the other day, in a good fishing hole.
Heard them first. They make a "tweeting" sound, like a person whistling.
It's pretty loud. I first thought they were birds, until I spotted them
about 50 feet away.

licker

I don't fish for the same type of trout that you do because I live close to
the Gulf of Mexico and mainly saltwater fish. Never had a redfish caught on
a fly rod ever grow like that although they fight like hell when caught.
However I have been fishing both inshore brackish marsh and offshore with
regular tackle and have had several times caught a shark that had chased my
hooked fish. I also pulled up numerous fish offshore that were eaten in
half by a shark.

While fishing about a month ago, I cut the belly open of several specks
(speckle trout or spotted sea trout) to see what they are feeding on. In
the belly of one of the trout was a 12 inch speck and inside one of the
other specks was an 8 inch croaker.

Fishin Fool

jr

That would be my guess. There are sections of the Metolius in Oregon
where if you hook a small whitefish and don't land it quick, you'll be
bait fishin for bulls.

JR

rw

That's an interesting theory, Joe, but it doesn't hold up. Not only did
I see the little stocker jump, but I was stripping him into my net at
the expected rate. Plus, 25 inch Bull Trout aren't all that interested
in #16 nymphs. I've occasionally caught small ones on nymphs, and even
one on a dry fly (a Madam X), but never a large one on anything but a
good sized streamer (until now, assuming you don't count a 10 inch
stocker as a streamer).

jeffc

My guess is the bull went for the trout, but didn't actually swallow it. It
got hooked just in the chaos and the stocker escaped. But we'll never know.

bruiser

That's a great story RW. I bet the Bull attacked the stocker and got hooked
in the mouth while the stocker got released.

Here's a critical question. Were you fishing with a barbless hook? It
seems more likely with a barbless hook, because it could easily dislodge
from the stocker and stick the Bull Trout. I bet you were meat fishing and
you had a barbless hook because that was what was in your fly box.

I caught a small Bull Trout way up Rock Creek one day. Very cool looking
fish.

bruce h

cv01

That's a tactic used by some bass fishermen down here as well. The
fisherman who hooks the fish will just hold it in the area while
others take shots at any trailing fish.

I've had large fish follow smaller hooked bass or sunfish to the
shore many times. At one place I used to fish I had what looked like
decent-sized striped bass trailing them in. I never actually got the
fish to strike anything, but the commotion created by the hooked fish
definitely got their interest.


Chuck Vance