Who says you can't go fishing on Valentine's Day and expect to catch fish (besides your wife or girlfriend). I am here to debunk that old myth. The day turned out to be "St. Valentines Day Massacre" all over again for my buddy Steve Kelly. He only managed to catch and release his biggest bull trout to date.
The big hen hit a Yo-Zuri TX Minnow ( sorry guys, discontinued ) at 65 feet around 8:00 a.m. She was pushing the scales to 16.5 LB. in my 3.5 LB. net.....that nets out to 13 LB. His previous biggest bull came while we were filming the "Monster Bull Trout" DVD back in April, 2006. That fish weighed in at 12.5 Lb. Congrats Buddy!!
It really was Steve's day. He also backed up his big girl with another bull hen that bounced the scales down to 9 LB. At least I was good with the net today! My best bull of the outing was a mere 6 Lb. fish.
We caught and released 8 bulls total with the biggest (3) going 6, 9, and 13 LB. Most of the fish came on the Shasta Tackle Slingblade / Protroll Roto Chip baitholder with a 6" herring aboard. All but one of the fish were caught on riggers working 50-70 feet around kokanee balls out near the boundary area of LBC. I did manage one small bull on a 128 pointer ripping lead at 8 colors.
Some big bulls have shown up in the last few weeks and things should only get better as the Metolius Arm opens in March.
If you are interested in a shot at a big bull, I am still booking dates in April. Only a few dates left in March.
It really was Steve's day. He also backed up his big girl with another bull hen that bounced the scales down to 9 LB. At least I was good with the net today! My best bull of the outing was a mere 6 Lb. fish.
Some big bulls have shown up in the last few weeks and things should only get better as the Metolius Arm opens in March.