Fall Steelhead, Salmon and Brown Report- Brule River

[Garett Svir]

Share your fall Brule River reports here. No specific spots please but lets hear about conditions, numbers of fish and LET'S SEE THOSE PICS!

[certified jumbo]

River is rising quickly today, flow is at 200 cfs presently and going up. More rain next 3 days. River could go up significantly!

Fishing for us has been slow but some fish to keep it interesting. Probably won't post a lot of pictures till November, but then I will post the works. Pictures are awesome to look at and thanks for those who share. Be a little careful on backgrounds and don't name specific spots as Garett posted.

Best of all good luck and be careful now with the higher water!!

Here's a few early fall pics......

Love the colors on this resident fish!!!!

[Slabasaurus]

Nice fish... I've landed a few this season but haven't had the photo opps for em. Water was above 250 when I was up last, that was tricky fishing. Good points about backgrounds in the photos.

Here's a quick read on the effects of holding trout vertically though... not so bad for the smaller fish but them big lake run browns really don't handle that position well. Not trying to sound preachy or nothin... just some good info.

Holding fish by the gills

I'll be up this weekend. It will be a while before I can make it up again, hopefully the water doesn't go up tooo much more. Sheesh.

[Garett Svir]

Great pics certified jumbo, thanks for sharing. Looks like you guys have been having a blast!

[BRULEDRIFTER]

I'll be up this weekend. It will be a while before I can make it up again, hopefully the water doesn't go up tooo much more. Sheesh.

Oh it will. We've have tons of rain up on the range the last few days and I know nothern/central WI has gotten even more. River is at 216 right now, I'd say it hits 250+ in the coming day(s).

It's sure to be chocolate milk, anyway. I've postponed my trip this weekend. Hopefully next week things dry up and the river drops going into next weekend. 150-200 is the sweet spot as far as river conditions go to access the whole river, IMO.

[Slabasaurus]

It's sure to be chocolate milk, anyway. I've postponed my trip this weekend. Hopefully next week things dry up and the river drops going into next weekend. 150-200 is the sweet spot as far as river conditions go to access the whole river, IMO.

Yep... i'd say that's my sweet spot too. Time isn't going to allow me to pick n choose my weekends up there this year sadly so my hand is a bit forced here.

I was a bit off in my last post as to the discharge... she was actually pushin 280cfs... way too swift to cross and stuff but I still managed some fish, I can't imagine this weekend would be any worse than that.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

351 and rising! Good luck!

[certified jumbo]

My fishing partner fished yesterday. Flow and clarity was decent at 215 cfs. Fishing was about the same as its been. A few to keep you interested. But not much steel to be found.

River blew up over night and still rising.

Gonna be awhile now. More rain forecast for Monday too.

[certified jumbo]

Beautiful lake run my buddy caught yesterday before the flow increase.

[snowguy]

I fished Monday and Tuesday. It was slow. 1 smolt, 1 minnow sized brown, 1 skip-jack and in the late afternoon Tuesday got a nice chrome 21" steelie. Was good to at least get one... going to try again in a couple weeks.

[certified jumbo]

Nice chromer. Thanks for sharing!

[Slabasaurus]

351 and rising! Good luck!

I think it was about 380 by the time we made it up there. We just wound up hikin along the river for a bit takin in the fall colors. They were quite vibrant this weekend.

There were a lot more people out fishing than I expected to be honest... I managed one bite and about 50 leaves. The ladyfriend manged a few less leaves but she did catch a nice tree branch.

It also seemed like everyone up there was having some kind of sale... like a neighborhood garage sale, except in farm country.

[Garett Svir]

Awesome photos, keep them coming! Fished hard all weekend with little success. Managed 2 lake run browns. Water clarity was terrible on Sat and improved slightly on Sunday. Clarity improved the farther upstream you went but we really just need things to flush out a little.

[certified jumbo]

Fishing over the weekend continued to be slow for most. We did catch some steelhead, lake run browns and resident browns. However lots of empty drifts in between fish. Flow was perfect around 190. Fall colors were good.

I hope we see more steelhead than last falls run. But I'm a little concerned.

If I get some time tonight I'll post a couple pics.

[certified jumbo]

Even santa stopped by a fished a half day with us. This was the biggest fish of the weekend.

A friend fished today and reported slow fishing. Only landing smaller fish today. No lake run fish.

[Garett Svir]

Things have been slow going for us as well. It's like the big push hasn't happened yet. On the bright side the fish that are around are big, one of the best sized year classes that I have seen in some time. Here are a few from the other day.

[certified jumbo]

Very nice steelhead garett!!! Those are tanks.

Fishing remained about the same for us over the past week. Occasionally picking up steelhead, but lake run and resident browns making up most of the catch. Not seeing the steelhead numbers i'd like too. Maybe i'm losing my touch or maybe its another small fall run.

I'll try this week to get some new pics up.

Any other reports out there?

[ted4887]

Slow going for me so far this far. It doesn't feel like there are many fish in the river right now. Like certified jumbo, I'm catching a few browns but that is about it. Picked up one steelhead the other day, but otherwise, I've been getting blanked every trip up.

Most people I've talked to have had similar experiences lately too.

Actually, I've had better luck getting low-holed by people than I have catching fish.

And here is a friendly reminder for everyone that fishes or plans to fish the Brule. Even though the river can get a bit crowded, please don't forget your river etiquette. If someone is fishing a run or a hole that you want to fish, come back later. DO NOT presume that it is okay to fish above or below the person that is in that stretch of water. Stop being lazy, and walk to the next spot.

[Poacher's pariah]

Ted, I hear ya, but we must remember that as steelheading becomes more popular, we as individuals need to recognize that we must share the resource. I'm a bit curious what you and others consider to be "a hole". Do you mean a 100yd stretch of water? Or as a guy I ran into down on the Betsie years ago asserted, a half mile of water? As the river gets more crowded, our "stretch" is bound to shrink. Hopefully, people will ask before fishing. But if not, we need to be bigger than the uneducated / uncultured masses.

[MNSlaunch]

Made it out this weekend with Garett Svir and it didn't disappoint! You'll see what I mean!

[Nastynate]

Made it out Friday AM, had one fish hit my fly, line broke about 2 seconds later, never seen it. Made it out again this afternoon managed to catch one 6" brown and that's it Someday I will catch my first steelhead, try again Friday morning

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Steelhead numbers are way down. Last fall less than 3,000 fish came up compared to over 8,000 in 2010 or 11.

Have a feeling the last few springs have all but erased multiple year classes of fish. Could be a tough go the next few years.

[Garett Svir]

Thanks for coming out Brett! I had a lot of fun with you guys. The river has indeed been busy lately, be kind out there guys.

[Odonata]

Good intel boys, Mr. Svir those pics are sweet; good video too. Certified Jumbo and I may make swing through the runs this weekend. Good luck and be nice.

[ted4887]

Ted, I hear ya, but we must remember that as steelheading becomes more popular, we as individuals need to recognize that we must share the resource. I'm a bit curious what you and others consider to be "a hole". Do you mean a 100yd stretch of water? Or as a guy I ran into down on the Betsie years ago asserted, a half mile of water? As the river gets more crowded, our "stretch" is bound to shrink. Hopefully, people will ask before fishing. But if not, we need to be bigger than the uneducated / uncultured masses.

I don't disagree with you at all on the fact that we are sharing a resource. And that statement actually goes with what I was saying about moving up to a new spot. Since we, as sportsmen, are supposed to be "sharing the resource", I always try to keep my distance from other fisherman. If a guy is at the lower end of a pool drifting his bait, I'm not going to jump in the river 20 yards ahead of him and start working the riffle that he is likely working towards. I'd just walk up to the next riffle or pool, which isn't likely to be more than a hundred yards in either direction.

If you need a refresher as to what constitutes riffles, runs and pools (a/k/a holes), then take a look at this graphic.

It's up the person to decide what is "too close", but I will say this. If there is any chance at all that someone can hit you with a well placed cast, you had better keep on moving. Spread out and enjoy the solitude that the river can offer you.