Bulls on Parade III - Lake Billy Chinook

After work, I rushed over to pick up Brian Wildish (BWild) so we could head up and over Mt. Hood for destination Lake Billy Chinook - Metolius Arm. This would mark the fourth time that we have planned this annual adventure in search of monster bull trout. 2009 was our first trip together but was plagued with dirty stained water. I was fortunate enough to land a 9-1/2 pounder that was 27 inches long. We missed 2010. 2011 was a memorable trip blessed with BIG bulls so the name "Bulls on Parade" was born from a mutual liking of the band "Rage Against The Machine". BWild landed his biggest bull to date weighing 13 pounds with a 19" girth and length of 29-1/2 inches. That brute was followed up with a beautiful irridescent colored male of 10-1/2 pounds with a 18" girth and length of 28 inches. Four other "keeper" sized fish were caught that year in 2011 as well up to 26 inches. 2012 was another epic year for BWild and I on the Metolius Arm. I landed my biggest bull to date of 12-1/2 pounds with a 17" girth and length of 30 inches! Although we didn't land any other that year over the 10# mark, we were blessed with incredible numbers of keeper size bulls and actively feeding fish. Thus making Bulls on Parade II one for the books as well. Would 2013 be just as good as '11 and '12? We were dying all winter long to find out. Now the time had arrived in Early March to give it our all.

We left the Perry South dock at O-Dark thirty and headed towards Chinook Island. After about a 25 minutes boat ride from my 15hp Merc, we tossed in our offerings and prayed for good times ahead. To our dismay, the fish were not biting and prayers were left unanswered. BWild brought in a dink and then had a fish cut his leader off. Looked like a good hit, but we will never know. Fortunately we spotted his lure floating on top of the water about an hour later and were able to retrieve it. We worked the area over hard trying different water columns and lure depths but no action. Around 10 am we moved to another area we have had success in, and soon BWild was into a nice bull. Finally, we thought! After a nice battle, Brian brought in a really nice bull of 24-1/2" and 7 pounds.

As night approached, we decided to call it a day and head back to camp to start a fire, down a few cold ones, and cook up some grub for dinner. This was the first year that we would have company, as Dan McAllister, Brian Sanchez, and Andy Dahlberg were also camping and fishing with us on this journey. BWild and I looked forward to how the boys had done and catch up on stories around the campfire!

The next morning came early, but instead of heading down to the island, we decided to work the area just outside Perry South to see if we could get into hotter action than what the previous morning presented for us. Negative! (haha) BWild and I once again worked different water columns and techniques but really could not find fish. Arcs were not showing up on the graph, and hardly any koke schools were either. In fact, it was a challenge to really find good kokanee schools all weekend. They were just very scattered and not too many "jumpers" were being seen. VERY different than the previous two years! At least we couldn't complain about the weather, other than it being downright frozen that morning. Zero wind, which can be rare on LBC, and really nice clear blue skies. Once again, around 10 am, we decided to tie on the jigs and send em down. This decision was quickly rewarded as I laced the barbs into a hard fighting bull! BWild got in his gear and shot a quick video of me fighting this guy. As soon as we could see the fish, about 10 feet down in the beautiful aqua blue water, another bull of about 8 pounds darted and dived around the one I had hooked on my jig! It was a pretty cool site to see. I guess he come up to see what all the excitement was about! Brian soon netted my bull and it turned out to be smaller than we originally thought he might be. Still a nice one at 5-1/2 pounds and 23 inches. After pics he was released back. We tried some more and brought up a couple more small ones.

Things slowed for the next few hours so we decided to head back down towards Chinook Island. This was the best call we made all weekend. Brian ended up jigging up a nice bull over an underwater ridge that sticks out into the lake. Scrappy bull of 5 pounds. In this same spot, I also caught a CARP and a SQUAWFISH! LOL! The carp was probably 6 pounds and the squawfish was pushing 22 inches! Both crazy catches that we never expected. Fun stuff. As the wind picked up, we decided to get back to trolling and explore a new area we had never tried before. Boy was that a good idea. Around 5 pm as our lures were being towed over an underwater point, my rod slammed down hard to the weight of a nice fish. Before I could even holler and grab the pole, I could see BWild lurch forward out of my peripheral vision and grab his rod too. DOUBLE!!! I kicked the boat in neutral and the fight was on for both of us! Brian's fish came in first and was a nice quality bull of 5 pounds and pushing 23 inches. As my fish stayed out and fought a little harder, Brian was able to get the hooks out of our rubber net, yet leave his bull in there. Soon my fish bulldogged underneath the boat, then tore off on a run or two before finally surrendering the fight. With a little work, BWild was able to net my fish with his still in there. It was a pretty cool site. My bull was a pretty nice one, and ended up being our biggest of the trip. He was a nice male that taped 25 inches and weighed in at 8 pounds. We were both stoked and fortunate to have Dan and the boys close enough to us to get this memorable picture together of a double we won't soon forget.

The final morning was more of the same for us. Slow fishing. We drummed up a small handful of fish, but all under 20 inches. It was our pleasure to meet fellow TTH'rs Lonnie and Brandon! A couple of real cool guys. Lonnie did well getting a 27" and a 28" bull that weighed 11-1/2 pounds! Congrats guys!!!

Bulls on Parade III would soon come to an end with no bulls over the 10# mark for us. We did, however, land a total of 30 bulls for the trip up to 8 pounds and 25 inches, yet BWild and I were left feeling like we hadn't met our goals for the annual trip. Believe me, we are not complaining about what we were blessed to catch, it's just that the previous two years spoiled us so much it left us with a feeling of underachieving. Just like they say in football, we left it all on the field, so we took it for what it was worth, thanked LBC for all her graces, broke camp and headed home. Great time with great friends and a few really nice fish mixed in definitely made Bulls on Parade III a success!

Best of luck on yer next TTH Adventure!

R.D.

"Browns - Coyotes of the Fishing World!"