Until quite recently, my main money-making gig was “content director” — an ambiguous job title that, by design, leaves itself open to all manner of obligations and responsibilities — at a pretty major fly-fishing media outlet. Vague title aside, it wasn’t a bad gig. I’ve had infinitely worse. A large portion of my work for this fly-fishing outlet involved curating fly-fishing photos and videos. For those unaware, fly-fishing culture anywhere more than 100 miles inland is, by and large, trout culture. This means I’ve looked at shit-tons of trout pictures.

The ethics of fly fishing for bull trout are nebulous. They’re also a bit ephemeral, depending on where you’re fishing and your intent. The endangered char of the Northwest is protected by law in both the United States and Canada, but fishing for them throughout most of their native range is legal, so long as they’re released unharmed.