Bull Trout Trip IV

BUMMER! No camera on this last trip out to the Metolius. And yes, I have been going up there frequently as of late. That trend is about to come to an end though.
This time the fish seemed to be more active in my favorite spot. I hooked 5 in the first 3 hours, all of which I assume were bullies, three of whom never came to the net. I still claim three bulls on the day though. The first and largest fish of the day came to within leader length of me. I had been playing him for a good 6 or 7 minutes. Its easy to underestimate these amazingly powerful fish. I though he was done fighting so I got more aggressive and as soon as I grabbed the leader, "boink" there he goes. He threw a couple of big head shakes at me and that's all it took to dislodge that barbless hook. And hey - tournament regulations for bill fish state that when a crew member places a hand on the leader, the fish is considered caught even if it comes un-buttoned before the crew can remove the hook. Yeah yeah, weak argument, I just got impatient and blew it. Anyhow, I guess that bully would have gone between 25 and 28. The other two bull trout measured 22 and 14. I did get a really big (as well as a couple of dinkers) whitefish too! Didn't measure but I think he was well over 15 inches.... not big enough to keep a big bull trout from trying to eat him while on the line. Someday I'll get some video footage of these bull trout chasing around the hooked whities. Too much fun! Tight Lines!