Strategies for bull trout on the Athabasca?

[Jason.seaward]

Hi,
I was in Jasper over the long weekend and tried for bull trout on the Athabasca at two locations that I thought would be promising. I was excited to catch my first bull trout, but no dice.
Just wondering if anyone could offer some words of advice from experience. I had used an 8w rod with an 8w sinking line. I had attempted to get streamers down deep. I suspect with the high river and fast water that I might not be getting it deep enough, because I had heard that they like to hug the bottom. I was trying for pools where the water slows down and close to the faster seams. Should I be targeting these areas or looking for others, such as faster seams, slow pools, etc?
I am heading to Jasper again in a couple weeks and would like to try again.
Not looking for any spots, because the ones I had I think should be promising, but I think I must be missing something.
Thanks!
Jason

[scel]

I am uncertain about the Athabasca in particular, but I am familiar in fishing headwaters for bulls. There are a couple techniques I learned from fishing 'fly fish only' rivers in BC for steelhead that work well for bulls.

Bull trout will hang out wherever another fish will stop for a break. Slower deep pools and bends are good hangouts. Seams tend to be feeding lines of active fish. It is still possible to find fish in the seams, but bull trout are pretty lazy.

You will want to get your leader 'just long enough'. If your leader is too long, your sink tip will not properly get it into the strike zone. Too short, and you risk spooking the fish. I find 1-1.2 m to be reasonable.

With a streamer, you usually quarter down stream (cast at 45 degrees downstream, and let it swing). For the really deep pools, you need to cast straight or even upstream. with sink tip/line, in both cases you need to mend upstream like mad and watch your line for strange movement. In both cases, you will not be in direct contact with your fly like you are on the swing, so you need to watch your line for any erratic movement that will indicate a strike or you have hit bottom. If you hit bottom, you now know how far away from your 45 degrees to get the fly to the strike zone. You may need a longer cast, and work the pool for further upstream than you normally would.

I will find some willing bull trout in every 7th or 8th pool. The cold fast waters simply do not support the plant and bug life, so you have to work a little harder

[Jason.seaward]

Thanks scel! Looks like I was on track but overlooked a few things. One of my mistakes was trying to be in direct contact with the streamer.

[scel]

Cool.

It is certainly not a mistake to be in direct contact with the streamer. Ultimately, it is how you should fish a streamer. You just need to sacrifice it for the deeper pools. You still want to complete the swing as you normally would (and in direct contact with the fly)---hopefully the fly is in the strikezone when you start your normal swing. It is critical to mend like mad so when you get to the swing portion of your cast, the "U" in your line is small enough so the fly does not go speeding past any potential fish. Once that fly line is under the water, you can do nothing.

In Alberta (and for most of BC actually), you can put a little weight on your streamer. A small split shot will help your fly get down quickly. It is a catch 22 though. Flies are naturally quite light, and will bounce along the bottom. The rocky/jagged environment in which bull trout live means too much weight will dramatically increase your fly donation rate.

[coachman]

Make sure you are lead free if fishing in the park. Buy the lead free split shot. Some times I will put the split shot on the line some times on the leader.

[Jason.seaward]

Thanks!
Should I be targeting transit is between fast and slow, or just slower pools?

[Jason.seaward]

Sorry. Meant to say "should I be targeting the transition between.."

[scel]

Originally Posted by Jason.seaward

Thanks!
Should I be targeting transit is between fast and slow, or just slower pools?

I am not sure. The Athabasca is a big river, even at the headwaters. In the smaller rivers, they will sit in the deeper pools and slackwater bends. They will move between pools during high water events. Even then, like I said, not every pool holds fish. It is far more obvious when you know a 30" bully will not take up residence in 6" of water.

I expect to be skunked the first 3 or 4 times I fish a big river. They do not give up their secrets easily. Personally, I would try to cover as much river as possible, maybe giving the deeper pools and pockets a little more attention.

[Jason.seaward]

Thanks again scel. You have been great!