Does anybody do much fishing for Bull Trout? I’m thinking about getting a Bull Trout catch card this year so I can legally fish for bulls on the South Fork of the Flathead. I saw some monsters in there last year that would give chase to smaller cutthroat and whitefish that I would hook up with. I’ve never actually fished specifically for bulls due to the regs here in Montana, but want to give it a shot as I’m sure it would be a blast!
If anyone has any experience, I’d like to hear some stories. Also, any tips would be appreciated. I would think strong leaders and big ugly streamers would pretty much be the ticket.
Clousers will be your friend.I have had good luck on clousers and double bunnies
weighted heavy and fished deep with a strip strip pause repeat retrieve.My best colors have been black and yellow,red and white and black and white.
I usually keep my leaders short and heavy with 8-10lb tippet.
Large lead-eyed bunny leaches do well on the Metolius. Some guys fishing for the big Bulls in lakes are using 6" long streamers that imitate Kokanee. Good luck.
Try using big, ugly streamers, light in color if you can. BIG zonker-type streamers work really well, and I have heard that some guys will tie rainbow or cutthroat imitations to lure the bulls into taking.
I fished the Metolius about a week ago and the bulls were taking just about anything, but they were particularly aggressive toward whitefish imitations about 5" long (big olive zonker strip with white marabou). You might consider adding an articulated hook onto the main hook to defy the short strikes that sometimes occur. Tie the flies with a LOT of weight (lead if you can); I have found that dumbbell eyes can help a lot in terms of both getting the streamer down AND in terms of orienting the fly to make it look more lifelike.
Sinktip and short leader tapered to 0X-2X as suggested above is perfect. The strikes are VIOLENT! Good luck.
DianeId.If you ever make it up thisway in the summer I’ll take you to a spot about 1 minute off the road and put you in a hole
that I have seen as many as 15 big bulls in at one time.I really like fishing for them in the fall when the kokanee salmon spawn.I’ve seen them come out of the water and smash a salmon swimming by,kind of cool to watch a 10" fish become lunch.
i love too chase bulltrout some of my friends and i are bulltrout addicts, ide say bring an 6wt but an 8wt would be better heavy tippet like 20lb big game mono and huge streamers, i usually use clousers or double bunnies 6-12inches long. green/white(rainbow trout) brown/white(sucker) yellow/white(cuttie) natural rabbit/white(whitefish) have bin my favorite colors. i alway like too put the eyes on my flies and use short shank hooks because them big predator char love too target the eyes and slam the streamer head first from teh front or along the back. i also put red around the kills too show the distres in a fish(when fish are stressed they flair there gills) try using various retrieves but usually something verry erratic can trigger a strike, dead drifted also works great if you can see a biggin in a hole that dosnt want too move, these fish are opportunistic and eat any sick injured and dying fish they can find. they love too eat sculpin suckers whitefish mostly but wont hesitate too take down a trout. ive seen many bulls 30+inches chasing 18inche cutties and rainbow around the pools chomping at there backs tails head and anywere else they can fit there mouths around. they do eat nymphs too like big golden stones ive also seen a few caught on big salmon fly golden stone and green drake patters but ide stick with the huge streamers heavily weighted near bottom in the deepest and darkest pools, they like logs jams aswell. here are a few pics of some of the hogs we got last year and a few fly patterns…
[This message has been edited by J Castwell (edited 10 April 2006).]
ahh nick u cant even spelll my name dude…heres a few more pics too keep yall druling…and no they dont take tiny runs. just loooooooong powerfull runs kinda like a big semi truck…one thing abotu bulltrout fishing is a good day out is usually one or two fish in the 24-35inch range in a full day between one or two people so it all equals out in the end, but there are days were only one or no fish are seen, enjoy…
[This message has been edited by J Castwell (edited 10 April 2006).]
im going on a 4 day fishing trip at the end of this month, mainly going for bull trout. about 2 years ago i caught one on a worm, and 4 pound tess, it was 29 inches, and looked like the middle pick that sunsky showed us. anyways, i have tyed up some double bunnies, and some muddlers, but im going to tie some clousers to. my bunnies are about 4-5 inches long, will the still work???
P.S. im useing a 4 wieght rod to, boy is that going to be a challenge
ive never tried for them at night but im sure they will take a mouse no problem even in the day. i read an article once nad it said that back in the old day catching bulls went like this
step one-tye mickey(live mouse)too a big hook
step two- find mickey a raft
step three-float mickey too the deepest and darkest part of teh pool
step hour-pully mickey off the raft and hold on…i think u get the picture
fishyguts
your flies in the 4-5 inch range will still work…your 4wt will get put too the test thats forsure, ive had a a friend have a rod shattered into little bits by one of these hogs. not saying it cant be done…
[This message has been edited by sunskyhooksnwater (edited 06 April 2006).]
Is it just me or does it seem like fishing a 4 wt for bulls is not so smart…for at least 2 reasons:
It’s going to take a while to fight the fish before you release it (isn’t the whole point of C&R that the fish actually LIVE after release?)
Rod go SNAP! Unless, of course, you have lots of money to spare or your 4 wt is cheap and you don’t mind stuffing its remnants in the trash.
I know there’s some mortality associated w/ C&R, but come on, using the appropriate gear gives that released fish a much improved chance of post-release survival.
well, my 4wt rod was cheap, but i love it, i have caught 25+ inch trout out of my friends pond, and really had no problem, i just like the feel of the rod, plus i dont have another heavier rod at this point in time.
