Bull trout in the Skagit/Sauk system (I still call to them dollies, just because I have for thirty or more years) are in no way endangered. According to Curt Kraemer, the population has increased tenfold (based on redd surveys) in the last decade. This is probably the result of the twenty-inch minimum size limit that went into effect at about that time. Since female bull trout don't spawn until they are around seventeen inches in length this assures them the opportunity to spawn at least once. There are only a few rivers in Washington where bull trout have been deemed sufficiently abundant that they can be legally fished for, let alone kept.

That said, I've fished for them since some time in the 'sixties but haven't killed one in at least twenty years. I'd say that the fishing is as good as, or even better than, it was then. I only hope that steelheading improves so there aren't so many guys fishing over "my" dollies.