Got into some dolly's while steelhead fishing a few days ago whats any one know about them do they go out to the ocean just hang in the rivers what do they do sure pound on the rod would have swore some of them were steelhead until we got a look at them
Gerald,
do a search on this topic as there is quite a bit of info on dolly/bull trout.
Here is a bit of info I copied and pasted from a previous post.
I love dolly's and have caught them in my home rivers,OP,and in Alaska,they are a pure sign of a healthy stream and am always happy to hook and release them.I am still surprised that there is still a kill fishery on them on northern rivers and the OP.....They are very cool specimens and have saved the day many times when I could not find a steelhead to play.
Here's a clip from a fish and wildlife training brochure found online:
Bull trout and Dolly Varden look very
similar, and were once considered the
same species. Both have small, pale
yellow to crimson spots on a darker
background, which ranges from olive
green to brown above, fading to white
on the belly. Spawning adults develop
varying amounts of red on the belly.
Both species also exhibit differences in
size, body characteristics, coloration,
and life history behavior across their
range.
Taxonomic work, published in 1978 and
accepted by the American Fisheries
Society in 1980, identified bull trout as
distinct from the Dolly Varden. Compared
to Dolly Varden, bull trout are
larger on average, with a relatively
longer and broader head. Bull trout are
mainly an inland species, while
Dolly Varden are more common in
coastal areas. In Washington, both
species are present in the Puget Sound
area.
