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BWild,
Just wanted to
send you a quick writeup about a Bull Trout I caught this year with Josh Wedding and Dustin Leibelt on February 11th
near the Confluence of the Deschutes and Crooked River Arms. It was a beautiful male bull that weighed in at 8 pounds
and taped out at 25-1/2" long. As you know, we typically release our catches, but I really wanted to take a few home
for the smoker and to show my kids. Anyways, while I was filleting out this fish at home, I was laying the fillets in
a pan when I noticed this little glass capsule lying on my cutting board. I hadn't noticed it before and figured it
must have came out of the fish! I was pretty shocked and excited at the same time thinking "Wow, I think I just found
a PIT Tag!" So I snapped a picture of it with my phone and text it off to Josh to ask him about it. He forwarded
it to Mike Harrington, a fish biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) out of the Prineville office. Mike
verified it to be an official tag and excitedly asked if I would mail it to him. So within the next couple days I did.
| Here's something you don't see every day.... |
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| ...an ODFW PIT Tag that was in RD's 8 lb bull trout! Continue Reading for the Stats on this fish! |
Just
a few days ago, I got a call from Mike and he had all the data on the Bull Trout. The bull was tagged up Canyon Creek,
just off the Metolius River, on September 9, 2010. At that time the male bull weighed 3.95 pounds and was 21.22 inches
long. So in a year and a half's time this bull grew more than 4 inches and doubled its weight!!! Mike was blown
away and had never seen such growth from past studies. Mike also said that this was the first PIT tag he has had
sent to him, which is pretty cool. Evidently, they place the tag in a little pocket near the dorsal fin just under the
skin. For those who don't know, Canyon Creek is approximately 34 river miles away from where I caught this fish!!
Just above Wizard Falls. Pretty incredible really!
| Here's the Migration Path of RD's Bull! |
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| In 1-1/2 years, this fish grew over 4 inches, gained over 4lbs, and traveled ~34 miles! WOW!!! |
Anyways, I just
wanted to share this story with TTH. Hopefully this data will help our biologists manage and preserve this amazing bull
trout fishery that we all enjoy in the beautiful blue waters of Lake Billy Chinook Reservoir!
Take Care and
Best Regards,
R.D.
"Browns - Coyotes
of the Fishing World!"
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