Brule River Steelhead Opener

[Garett Svir]

Anyone else getting excited for the upcoming Brule River steelhead opener? For those that are not familiar the opener is March 29th, one half hour before sunrise. An inland trout stamp is needed to fish the Brule River. Anglers can fish anywhere from Hwy 2 downstream to Lake Superior. 18 years ago my dad took me to the Brule for my first opener and started one heck of a love affair with this river. My outlook for the opener is favorable as long as things don't warm up too fast, blowing the river out. Brown trout numbers will be heavily reliant on if the ice pack has made it out to Lake Superior as these fish follow it closely. The snow in the woods is deep around the river so snowshoes might be needed this year. I'll keep this thread updated as the season goes on so you guys have a report on water conditions, clarity etc. Tight lines

[dave12341234]

Beautiful fish Garett, very jealous! Yes I agree, the snow is going to be rough this year, perfect reason to invest in a good pair of snowshoes. That being said, it's not stopping me! I just hope the river doesn't blow out before opener. This is my 5th year on the Brule, but is going to be my first year fishing centerpin, after landing a nice 26" steelie last year on my 5 wt, I said to myself there's got to be an easier way to do this,lol! With the research I've done so far, I think i'm going for the Raven 11' 6" float rod/ Raven Matrix combo. Forgiving beginner rod?

[Garett Svir]

Great choice Dave! That's what I have in the photo. If you're interested, I'll be at the Superior Fly Angler on March 1st doing demos with Raven rods, stop by. Last year we even did some casting in the parking lot. It is always a fun event.

[dave12341234]

That sounds great! If I'm in the area, I will stop by, I'm sure there's alot to learn.

[Jarrid Houston]

Garret, get a hold of me when you get up this way, maybe we can do lunch? Dax is planning on heading up here for the weekend for some angling. You shoul come to if ya can

[Garett Svir]

Sounds like a blast! Would you PM me your number?

[Odonata]

Opener can't get here soon enough! We will be out and looking forward to it. Deep snow expected, but steelhead are worth the hustle through the drifts. Where is everyone going?

[dave12341234]

Not that this means anthing but as of yesterday, Winnibijou was the only spot that was open. Stopped by copper range and FF, they were both frozen over completly. In fact, the was actually a doe standing right on the middle of the river at FF. I think I'm going to start at clay's and work my way down to 13, I really like the looks of that stretch, plus I'm thinking I can break away from the crowd once I get past those first few bends.

[Poacher's pariah]

The snow was 34" deep, and near impossible to walk through in the woods around Nebagamon yesterday. Better bring snowshoes if you're planning on fishing any distance away from a parking lot.

[Odonata]

No doubt the snow will be deep. There will be a lot of shelf ice and snow-filled banks. Lots of melting before the major stretches of the river are fishable. If it's in the 40's and above, she'll blow open in a few days.

[dave12341234]

I did a driveby yesterday and noticed the river directly downstream from hwy 2 was wide open,upstream end was still solid. copper range was solid. FF was starting to break loose. Areas of the river that receive more light are opening up faster. Didn't even notice it but there was deer in one of the pics. I was going like 20 mph.

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/dave_snow1/slideshow/

[BigHitter]

Probably hit the easy access spots until the snow melts. Guessing everyone else will too...

[dave12341234]

Heading out to take pictures of a few spots. This 15 day forecast looks promising, but it's wishful thinking. http://www.weather-in-us.com/Wisconsin/Weather_in_Superior__Douglas/15-day-forecast

[Feathers Rainin]

Does anyone know if there is fishable ice out in front of the mouth of the Brule? Dave if you get this in time would you mind checking and let me know. Thanks

[dave12341234]

First day of spring! It's breaking up! Copper Range: ice is getting pretty thin, lots of open water.

FF: Not so good, I dont think it'll be fishable by saturday.

I am curious to know how lenroot and mays are doing, especially the stretch

right past mays. I would assume thats open. Water temps are at 32, clarity

is good, a little stained. Someone plowed black landing, others are not. The

forecast ahead shows temps on opener weekend at around 50, woohoo!

Im going for the last preseason scout next thursday. heres the pics from today.

http://s159.photobucket.com/user/dave_snow1/slideshow/brule%203-20-14

Feathers- I am also wondering about the mouth and other slower moving areas. I'll check that out thursday as well.

[Garett Svir]

Well, I decided to make the rounds and check some spots on the river. Still a lot of ice around. This could be an interesting year. Snow is deep too 32".

[Poacher's pariah]

I made a trip checking ice conditions yesterday. Things do not look good. Ice still locks up a majority of the river(from FF to the mouth), and with this weeks weather forecast, I don't expect it to move much. This morning's low was -13 degrees with lows near or below 0 forecast for tonight and tomorrow night. Snow depth averages about 3 feet, with 3-4 foot ice shelves at the shoreline. Somebody out there needs to contact the global warming alarmists and have them send us some "normal" weather. Otherwise, it will be mid April before we get full access to the river.

[Odonata]

I agree with Poacher's P; lots of snow. I was into many spots yesterday and the snow is 3-4 feet. Bring your snowshoes and make sure your heart can handle an elevated rate; its a workout if you're not in shape. Lots of shelf ice/snow.

[Garett Svir]

Tight lines and be safe to all the anglers heading out this weekend in pursuit of steelhead. Sounds like we are supposed to get a little more snow tonight in Brule. Over night temps on Friday are supposed to dip low around 6 degrees but warm up to around 36 in the afternoon on Sat. Avoid cotton and wear layers that wick sweat and don't forget the snow shoes. I look forward to all the steelhead pics!

[Poacher's pariah]

.........And please, please, PLEASE! practice Brule river etiquette. If a hole is occupied, ask before stepping in on someone. This isn't the North Shore where only a mile or so of every river is fishable. Don't crowd people. There are 30+ miles of water to fish.

[Poacher's pariah]

Well, I made a final inspection trip to the river yesterday and am not very optimistic. The river remains basically frozen over from somewhere upstream of hwy FF down to the mouth. With the limited availability of parking, I just don't see where or how you can/could shoehorn everybody into just 1/4 the length of river usually available on the opener. If I was planning on coming up from the Twin Cities, I'd stay home and come up next weekend....or later. The 10 day forecast still has us colder than normal starting again on Monday. Where, oh where, is global warming when we need it. March/April of the last two years has been anything but normal.

[Odonata]

Any word on if they plowed any of the fisherman's lots? I know Black's was open with the logging, but everything else was socked in.

[Poacher's pariah]

The lots I visited probably would hold only 50% of their normal capacity. I expect that the towns and DNR will do their best to plow the lots, but with yesterday's snow, their priorities will be on clearing roads and driveways, first. Overall, I believe the challenges will not be in finding fish, but in finding parking, and a spot to fish. That, and in avoiding the heart attack that awaits us older, wider guys while trying to navigate 3 feet of snow. Be safe guys, and as Dirty Harry said, "A man's got to know his limitations".

[BRULEDRIFTER]

It would be nice if the WI DNR would just postpone the opener for a few more weeks for the river to completely open up and let the fish have more time to spread out in the river so they aren't all still concentrated in areas where they will be pounded by the masses the next few weeks.

Unfortunately I'm wishing in one hand and ..... in the other. Let's hope the deep snow keeps the masses off the river for a while, otherwise it'll be a slaughter house, just like the days the season was open year round.

[Jarrid Houston]

Good Luck everyone!!!

I'll be hosting a booth and doing seminars at the Douglas Cty Fish n Game show...