In 1998 the species was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act with provision for a Section 4(d) rule, allowing the USFWS flexibility to develop specific protections for the species. The bull trout’s battle for survival isn’t a new one.

they evolved that way.” He adds the fish have been known to travel more than 150 miles from the Flathead Valley in northwestern Montana all the way to British Columbia to return to their natal spawning grounds. “Fundamentally, they’re a migratory critter for spawning and pursuing food sources. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) fisheries biologist Wade Fredenberg. “Bull trout are a much different species than cutthroat for a number of reasons, chiefly among them that they’re highly mobile and migratory,” explains U.S. Yet while some anglers actively-and illegally-target the fish, too few appreciate or understand the bull trout’s daily struggle for survival, a struggle that, some days, the species seems to be losing. While the species cannot be actively targeted-with a few permitted exceptions in the northwest corner of Montana-fly fishers eagerly recount tales of their interactions with the species.

True predators, large bull trout have been known to munch on a smaller trout caught on the end of a line, providing high entertainment and often inadvertently hooking themselves in the process. In the past decade, bull trout have gained a rather mystical status. This article was originally titled 'A Long Way to Go' in the Migration column of the Oct-Dec 2015 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine.

Fishing planet alaska bull trout