Northern Wis. or Iron River Area??

[Coleman]

My dad and I are planning a trip to northern Wis for some fly fishing. Have any of you guys been to this area fishing at all, with bait, flies or lures? We were thinking about going out there the first weekend of August. If you have fished ther at all, where are some good places to try? Do you know of any webpages that list or show maps of the area? Any info on fishing for trout in norhtern Wis would be great. Thanks a lot.

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Fishing isn't a Hobby to me. A Hobby is something you do in your spare time.

[Coleman]

Thanks a lot for the info. And thanks for the webpage, it helped me out greatly. I will have to run this by my dad and see what he says. But if the fishing is good I would rather spend the whole day driving to it, then sit at a river with no action. Again, thanks for your help.

[Renneberg]

Coleman, hands down the best river up there is the Brule river. At that time of the year lake run browns are in the river. If you are planning on fly fishing you have to stop at the Brule River Classic. Here they can tell you what the trout are bitting on. They even have hand tied flys of what works on the river. I strongly suggest you stop there and spend a little money. They will tell you everything you need to know.
I don't have the number for the Brule River Classic but if you want it I'll find it for you.
If you don't want to make the drive from Iron river to the Brule then fish the Iron river. I have never fished it but I understand that it too is a great trout stream, but not as good as the Brule.
The only site I know for that area is the www.bruleriversportsmensclub.com/

[Renneberg]

Be sure to stop by the Brule River Classic for info on what's working and where. I'm sure they can give you some info with the Iron River too.

P.S. Bring your bug spray. The horse flies can be bad.

[Coleman]

That would be great if you could get a scouting report for me. I would really appriciate that. I guess we are planning on going Aug. 7-11. I really got to get a new leader on my fly rod too. Been bass fishing as of late, and I dont think the trout would like to see that big ol' line floating in the water.

[Renneberg]

Coleman, all this talk of fishing the brule has made me want to fish it now. So I've decided to go. I'll be up there this weekend fishing for those lake run browns. I'll be sure to let you know how I do.

[Coleman]

If you havent left already, just curious, do you know of any hotels to stay at? I guess I could try the yellow pages too. We'll probably end up staying in Iron River. If you know of anything else and you havent left could you please fill me in? Thanks a lot.

[Renneberg]

Coleman the only hotel I know of is the Brule River Motel. There number is 715-372-4815. They are located right on hwy 2. The Brule River Classics has cabins for rent. The cabins are fully equiped, meaning you can cook in them, plus they have plates, cups, silver wear, pots and pans, and even a small frig. There number is 715-372-8153. They are located on hwy 27, on the east side of the hwy.

Myself and Tjhunter started fishing at hwy 13 for lake run browns. I caught one right away, but it was only about 10 inches. We fished up and down the river with no other luck, so we moved up stream.
We started at Pine Tree Landing and fished just up stream of Copper Ridge.
We had better luck up here. We both caught browns that were about 13 or 14 inches and Tjhunter caught several small rainbows. The biggest of which was about 10 inches. It wasn't until we fished a hole called the Dance Hall that we had better luck.
I caught my second lake run brown here. A 19 inch silver female. This one was very fresh, hadn't even been in the river for a week yet.
After that we fished a couple of holes with no luck, so we headed back.
Later in the day it poured for a couple of hours, so I stayed in hopeing it would end soon. It ended at about 6 o'clock. But as I was waiting for it to end I fell a sleep. Waking up at 9 pm I quickly went down to the river to see how much the water came up. Only about a in or two. Still very fishable. So I went back to the only hole that produced a good size lake run.
Getting there at around 11 pm I started fishing at the bridge. With no luck there I moved up to the Dance Hall.
I was there for no more then five minutes when a big brown slammed my rapala. It made several big runs before the unthinkable happened. The hook came out. I don't know how big that one was, because I never seen it, but I can tell you this that any trout that can peal 8 lb test off your real 3 times is a big trout.
After that I only had one other bite. That one too got off.

Coleman, I have one tip for you if you fish for lake run browns. Its cover as much water as you can in a day. They can be anywhere.

[Coleman]

Renneberg, I can't thank you enough for all your info. You've been a great help. If you ever need any info on fishing west central MN, or fishing near St. Cloud look me up. I do have a question. Is it legal now to fish after dark? I thought you couldn't fish 30 after sunset. I could be mistaken though. My dad, brother, and myself will be heading out there next Wednesday, so wish us luck. I would love to get into some large browns. The biggest trout I ever caught was about a 4lbs rainbow in Colorado. But my dad has a 15lbs Brown on the wall. So lets hope I can get something like that, but I dont have my hopes too high. I just want to catch some fish. Again thanks for all your help. I really appriciate it. Have a great week.

[Renneberg]

As far as I know Wisconsin does have that rule. In Wisconsin only special rivers have this rule. The Brule happens to be one of them, but its only in effect in Oct. to the seasons end and then again in the spring when the season opens until May.
15 lb Brown is a very rare fish. The only way I can see you catching one is if it was a lake run Brown. Even then your odds are slim. The biggest one I've heard caught out of the Brule was a 33 inch lake run Brown. I have no idea how many lbs that would be.
Just so you know there is a place where you can rent canoes and float the river. If you do this start at Stone Bridge and float to the hwy. B bridge. There are a ton of holes and great runs to fish. Plus there are a lot of big Browns in this strech. If you float the river do it during the week and you should hardly see anyone.
If you plan on fishing north of hwy 2 for lake runs be sure to stop at the Brule River Classic and pick up a map of the river north of hwy 2. The Sportsmens Club puts out a map that shows every hole, run, and every fishermen parking lot. This will take a lot of the quess work out for you as to where to fish. The maps are at the front desk in a plastic bag on the front of the desk. Be sure to look at the pics of the Browns and steelheads in the back by the flies.
I may be making a return trip to the Brule this weekend. My Dad loves to fish for trout, but he was unable to go last weekend because of work. I'll know tommorrow if we're going back. I'd be willing to meet and go fishing together.

PS. Be sure to get a book about the rule and regs of wisconsin trout waters. The Brule has many regs. about what you can and can't use and where they apply.

Good Luck.

[Coleman]

I got a reg. book last winter when I was at Cable snowmobiling. So, we are set in that department. I'm going to have to tell me dad that we have to stop at the bait shop for some pointers. I would meet up with you, but we'll be going next weekend. So I hope the fish are still biting. I might also have to try talking my dad into renting a canoe. Might be worth a try. Again thanks for all your help.

[Renneberg]

Fishing should be good next weekend as long as they don't get any major rain fall before you go.
Be sure to report back on how you do.

Good Luck.

[Guest]

Anybody have a report yet on how you did?

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Tight Lines

[Coleman]

Well we just got back from fishing the Brule. I must say the weather was just great and so was the area. It brings me back to my days in Colorado. Same smell, look, and sounds. As for the fishing, well, it was ok for our first time. All we caught was Rainbows. My brother caught the biggest one at about 13-14". And the biggest after that was about 8-9". The numbers were low too. Although I caught about 25-30 fish in one day, they were all small. All of them were about 6-7" tops. And many were 3-4". It was still fun to finally catch some trout again. And the area made up for any short commings of the fishing. All in all I would go back. I guess I just need to learn all the secret spots for the larger fish. But thanks for all your help Renneberg. I'll be going back for sure some time in the furture.

[Renneberg]

Colemen where did you fish. If you fished north of 2 then thats to be expected. If you fished south of 2 then its hard to believe you did get at lease one brown.

[Coleman]

Well Renneberg we fished north and south of 2. Although I was unsure most of the time. My dad just drove us around and I pretty much just watched the country, and not the road signs. I guess it was a learning experience for us. And next year when we go back we'll have more of an idea of what to do.

[Renneberg]

Coleman, do you have a e-mail address? I have something I'd like to tell you. It's about where and when to fish the Brule for big browns.

I feel bad about totally forgetting to tell you where to fish for browns.

Luke Geraty, all those flies you just talked about work on the Brule.

[Guest]

you better not be acting as if catching rainbows is a bad thing

rainbows are... wow.... splendid

dont' get me wrong.. browns are nice too... but... bows... bows.... bows.... bows....

I will be taking my wife to the Brule the weekend of Oct6th for our 1 year anniversary.... he he... hopefully we will slam and release some large fish....

what flies were you using?

Anyone use Glow bugs? egg sucking leeches? Muddler Minnows? pinkies? ??!?!?!?

I know the locals use a yarn fly... most of the guys in Alaska use those as well with spawn.... glow bugs are basically the same thing, so I'm assuming those will work as well....

I might have to bring my 5 wt sage jus so I can snap it on a big fish

You guys are lucky.... making me want to fish.... now...

[Coleman]

Yeah, my email is [email protected] my name is Cole.

[Guest]

went there.

first day was unproductive, but didn't spend much time on the river...

second day was decent.... caught six or seven decent fish... quite a few small rainbows (12 to 14 inches I believe).

I THINK I had on a king but it might have been a big bow or brown.... I just felt the fish for a minute and then saw it's side and broke my tippet... I was slightly upset, but since the river was beautiful, and an old man was watching me, I smiled

I was fortunate enough to run into Erin.... one of the guys who works in Superior at the fly shop... he was VERY informative.... gave me a lot of knowledge.....

I have completely come to the conclusion that I am not much of a brown trout fisherman.... I dont like fishing the slower deeper pockets, BUT, I have also come to learn that midwest bow's (freshwater steelhead) are way different then real steelhead......

It was a very different experience.... but well worth the 3 hour drive.... I plan on doing this a lot more now.

key words here: glo bug and muddler minnow tied with egg and a little orange tail.

Campground was great.....

all in all.. I had fun.