The bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) is a brook trout in the salmonid family found in northwestern North America. It was formerly known as the "Dolly Varden" but was reclassified as a separate species in 1980. The fish got its name from its unusually large mouth and head. The fish either migrates in large water systems or stays in one place all its life.

When I first entered the local "Fly shop" in the "East Kootenay" this winter to get information, I was greeted first by a dog named Earl and then by the owner Paul. After a formal but pleasant conversation, Paul pointed to the photos pinned above the door and pointed out a fish similar to a rainbow trout, the "Westslope Cutthroat Trout", which he told me was very active in collecting insects, and then next to it he showed me a photo of a fish I had never seen before. It looked like a porgy with the huge head and torpedo-shaped body of a pike. It was a bull trout.