Big Bulls in October

You're probably thinking you're going to hear a story about getting into bugling bulls out here as I have been out in the mountains a lot this fall. I have run into a few and have definitely screwed up some chances. I thought my archery season had come to a close, with me getting busy on the river again but as luck would have it, I was canceled four days. Four days is pretty significant and I really would like to be on the river making money but I'll take the time and make the best of it. The cows should be going into estrous and the bulls should be chasing. But October brings opportunities for other bulls I didn't really think about until yesterday.

I was able to re-book one of the days canceled with another outfitter. The clients wanted to see the Blackfoot River. As some of you know, the Blackfoot is on the West Side of the Divide; that's bull trout country. 

You can't target bulls on the Blackfoot or any other rivers in Montana with the exception of the South Fork of the Flathead. There is a reason for that. Bull trout were often seen as a nuisance to anglers up until the late 90's. Folks out here thought they were a detriment to the fisheries because they are predators. They eat the other trout. In fact, I talked to a client a few years ago that said they would actually catch bull trout in the streams out here and throw them on the banks just to get rid of them. Another guy told me they would go after them because they were poor and they figured one trout would feed the entire family. They are big fish. 

As a result, bull trout in Montana and most of the West nearly became extinct. (Just another example of us humans screwing things up.) In the 90's and early 2000's, conservationist added bull trout to the list of species they wanted to protect and laws were written. The fact is, these fish are ancient looking and just cool as hell. And when you see one in a stream that's literally as wide as your raft or drift boat that's approaching the 30 inch mark, it's pretty damn impressive and the average angler becomes incredibly thankful that this resource was protected. 

 

So yesterday I took my folks, Leslee and Jim, on the Blackfoot near Ovando, MT. The river was gorgeous with the fall colors at their pinnacle and the sun out after the fog lifted. The air was crisp and the water temps had dropped to the low 40's. There were a few other boats on the stretch we chose to float but not bad. One of the guys putting in was a guide I had seen on the Mo a number of times. I'm going to be honest. I've had some run-ins with him and I've never really thought of him as much for river etiquette but we said "hi" to each other and went on our way. 

The fishing was a little tough to begin with. We caught a few little guys and then my folks both caught two great cutties. The West slope cutties are amazing this time of the year--all colored up and just beautiful fish. It's one of the reasons I love the Blackfoot. With the second one, we decided it was time for lunch so we pulled over and did our thing. It gave the other guide time to catch up to us and pass us. 

We were seeing some October caddis so after lunch, we went big orange stimies. That action wasn't great but we were diligent. We wanted to see those cutties do their thing, which was smashing big dries. It's what makes freestones so fun. 

We caught up to the other guide-boat within a half hour after lunch. They were working a hole pretty hard so we decided we would just slide past them on the far side of the river and give them space. I actually told my folks to bring their rigs in so we wouldn't disrupt their water as we passed them and like the dick-head moves this guy is known for, he saw us sliding by and started pushing to stay in front of us. So now I have to slow down and pull back or I'm going to be right up his ass. 

Here's the deal; if you're going to park on a run, I'm ok with that. Fish it. Fish it until you've caught every fish in that run for all I care. However, if you're going to do that, you're giving up your position on the river. If you want to be first boat down, don't stop on these runs and ass-pound them. You gotta pick one or the other. That's all I ask.

So the other guide get's in front of us and is fishing the right side of the river and of course, we're coming up on him pretty fast. Leslee comes tight on a little rainbow--we make a huge production out of it. We let the fish go and I tell Jim to throw along a seem to the left. We're about 50 yards back upstream from the other boat. A 12 inch cutty crushes his stimi and Jim comes tight. 

Jim has a habit of losing tension on fish he's hooked unless they do him a favor of running straight away from the boat. He's not alone in this. Many of us have the same challenge of keeping up to trout as they come towards the boat, stripping line in and keeping a bend in the rod. Line management can be made more difficult in a raft when you're sitting down. Jim lost tension on this cutty and it ran to the bottom of the hole and stopped. When Jim came tight on it again, it was like that trout had wrapped itself around a boulder and Jim couldn't move it. He started pulling and tugging as if he was trying to get his line off the obstruction. The thing is, that obstruction started to move. 

"Dude! That's a bull trout!" I yelled. 

The bull came up to the surface about 10 yards behind the other guide boat as all three of us just about crapped our pants. All three of the guys in the other boat looked back in unison to see this nearly 30 inch fish with a 12 inch cutty in its mouth, rolling just under the surface causing boils in the pool as if a small child had just cannon balled into it. 

We fought that fish for about a minute before it broke off. Even though we didn't land it, it was pretty awesome to see and as the other guide boat pulled over to let us finally pass, we recounted the incident in detail with an enthusiasm that could only be matched by the first fish I ever caught when I was three-years-old. Yes, it was pretty awesome but we weren't done yet.

We were literally only a quarter-mile downstream of this first encounter when another small cutthroat grabbed Jim's stimi and again, Jim came tight. The trout went to the bottom and again, we thought it had wrapped up on something. Again, that "something" started to move.

"You have another bull trout!"

We didn't see this bull right away. In fact, it just started slowly heading up stream and with the way Jim's rod was bending, I thought it was going to break the rod. 

"Let 'em go Jim!" I said. "Don't horse him." 

I got on the sticks and started pulling the raft back upstream, chasing the trout until we got over the top of him. He came up and rolled on the surface. Again, we all just about lost it. 

This bull went back to the bottom and continued to work himself upstream and I continued to follow him by pulling the raft against the current. We fought him for about 10 minutes before finally getting him back on the surface. He had grabbed the little cutthroat by the head and inadvertently, got the stimi buried into the corner of his mouth. He was hooked and as long as we didn't break him off, he was going to loose this battle. A lot of times, a bull trout will grab the other trout sideways, much like a musky in the Midwest grabs a crappy or a walleye you're trying to land and they'll hold onto it until they get right to the net and then just let go. Sometime they don't let go and sometimes, like this guy, they find the hook. 

We landed him and quickly got him back into the water. Leslee took photos as I unhooked him and let him go. The regulations say you're not suppose to take the time to take photos of these fish. You are to release them immediately. But a fish that size? No photos? 

The fish was about 25 inches and only the second bull trout I've see landed. The first was about 10 years ago or so that I caught on a streamer. It was only about 19 inches and I don't have a picture. The thing is, there's a reason for the rule. 

We all believe we know how to handle these fish and keep them alive and healthy and we're probably right. But what happens, is pictures are taken and people post them all over Facebook and Instagram. They are impressive. However, it creates a desire to go after these fish to have a photo for yourself. 

Guides do it. Anglers do it. I've even seen outfitters have those pics on their websites and business cards. To me, that's crap because you're creating a demand for something that's off-limits. And it's off-limits for a reason. It's a fragile resource. 

I actually talked to a client this year about an outfitter he hired a while back. The reason he hired the outfitter was because the outfitter had a picture of a bull trout on his website and he knew how rare it was to catch one. He even asked the outfitter if it was possible to get something like that on his trip. The outfitter told him it was but when the client came out, he said they weren't able to fish for them. 

The bottom line is the more photos, the more abuse of this resource so just trust me, this was a pig.

Keep 'em where they live...