Brule River Fall '12

[BigHitter]

I hit the Brule yesterday and today for thee first time this Fall. Not a lot of fish in the river right now. I caught two very small salmonids yesterday. Today, I caught a 5 pound and a 4 pound Coho.

[JAR JAR]

Nice job BH I may head over there this weekend

[Jarrid Houston]

Nice fish!

[BigHitter]

Thanks Jar and Jarrid. Head over to the Bait Box in Allouez and Steve will get you on the right tackle or spawn sacs.

[Odonata]

What did you hook up with? Looks like spin gear, but what tactics did you use? Spinner, crawler, swing flies, ? Just curious, I will be heading out sometime over the next week or so too.

[BigHitter]

What did you hook up with? Looks like spin gear, but what tactics did you use? Spinner, crawler, swing flies, ? Just curious, I will be heading out sometime over the next week or so too.

I used spinners. Tried floating jigs and plastic worms with a slip bobber, Little Cleos, Flatfish, fake spawn sacs but none of those worked. I didn't try real spawn or yarn flies though. Best to cast the spinners slightly upstream and then reel them in across the current.

[Slabasaurus]

Ahhh. This guy is pretty jealous right now. Nice fish BH.

I had planned on hitting up the mouth of the river last weekend, but apparently have pneumonia. So... prolly gonna be a few weeks.

Guess that gives me some time to tie up my steelhead flies that i haven't started yet

[Odonata]

Hoping to fish Saturday; anyone else out? It's raining!

[BigHitter]

Hoping to fish Saturday; anyone else out? It's raining!

Rain should get the steeelhead moving into the river.

[Slabasaurus]

Alright. I can breathe again. Gained my weight back too. And tied a lot of flies.

Probably going to be doing a few camping/fishing weekends up there in the next month and a half...

Did ya make it out Odonata?

[JAR JAR]

I went down to the mouth on Sunday and hooked up twice before 7 am and then nothing, never landed them either , tried crawlers off the bottom and had the hits on a gold and orange castmaster

[ted4887]

Humor me please, but what kind of crowds should a guy expect up there tomorrow afternoon or Saturday? Will I be able to find some peace and quiet?

[BigHitter]

Humor me please, but what kind of crowds should a guy expect up there tomorrow afternoon or Saturday? Will I be able to find some peace and quiet?

You're getting into the heart of the steelhead season knocking on October. The conditions aren't ideal and there aren't the numbers of fish or fishermen there used to be. Still you will probably find at least a few cars, maybe more in the hot spots like the stretch from the Copper Range Campground down to the Horseshoe Bend.

[ted4887]

Thanks for the quick reply. Just trying to get a feel as to what I can expect if I do decide to head that way.

[Odonata]

Alright. I can breathe again. Gained my weight back too. And tied a lot of flies.

Did ya make it out Odonata?

Only in my minds-eye....ended up making sure the family was taken care of. Tomorrow, Saturday, is my shot. Look for a silver tundra, hoping to cover the stretch around high-landing.

[BigHitter]

Look for a silver tundra, hoping to cover the stretch around high-landing.

Make sure you post your results. Love to hear the stories. One of my buddies is heading up today but I have too much going on to join him...

[Slabasaurus]

Well, I made it to the mouth of the river, took some pics, but the leaves weren't as awesome as they were along highway 13, so I drove along that west and hit up some of the gravel roads leading to the shore (along some other tribs). So scouting, photography, the desire for some really good BBQ, and a carpin trip sunday morning won over staying up north.

So yeah. I drove from Blaine to the mouth of the brule, for a 4 hour hike

I didn't see any fish in there, but that's not to say there aren't any. I really don't know an awful lot about steelhead...

I'll be heading up friday-sunday this weekend for a more fishing dedicated trip. I do have some cold weather camping stuff so might be camping... might be staying at the cabin since it's not too far off, and it sounds like it's going to get really friggin cold this weekend...

[BigHitter]

So yeah. I drove from Blaine to the mouth of the brule, for a 4 hour hike

I'll be heading up friday-sunday this weekend for a more fishing dedicated trip. (quote)

Make sure you give us a report. Sounds like you're a fly fisherman being a member of TU. I typically use hardware so I can't give you a lot of advice. Lots of fly fisherman drift yarn flys through the runs and others use patterns and streamers. Low water means the fish will be in the deep runs and pools. That's a good place to start.

[Slabasaurus]

Thanks, yeah... I know a few places like that...

I'll post something up here, even if it's just a link to my thread in the fly fishing section

I'm more likely to use streamers/classic patterns and nymphs than anything... probably start with a nymph rig since the water is so clear.

[BigHitter]

I noticed there's stuff posted on the Wisconsin Brule Steelhead Fishing Page on Facebook. But keep the posts on the Brule coming here.

[BigHitter]

I hit the Brule on Saturday and found the lowest water levels I've experienced in 34 years of fishing the river. Yeah, I was only 20 when I started fishing the Brule... Anyway, hardly anyone was catching anything. I lost one fish which was the only one I had on. Rain is forecast for this week so maybe that will get the steelhead moving into the river.