Bruce Area

[Rivernut]

My sister just moved to Bruce and I was wondering if anyone lives in or fishes the area. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[mntraveler]

The in-laws are from Ladysmith and I know they do a lot of river fishing (suckers in the spring and sturgeon in the fall). As far as lakes go, I have been out in the winter a few times for panfish on some of the small lakes just south of Bruce. They usually have pretty good luck out there in the summer too I guess.

[Rivernut]

Thanks alot. They are having a house built just south of Bruce on a lot on the Chippewa. I appreciate the info!

[tunrevir]

My in-laws have a cabin on the Flambeau just out of Bruce. The stretch of the Flambeau below the Thornapple dam is relatively shallow and easy to fish. I typically wade and probe the holes and brush with twister tails and weedless jigheads. This stretch of river holds nice Blue cats 8-15 lb average, sturgeon, muskies, pike, walleyes and smallmouth. In 10 years, I have caught one crappie but that was kind of a fluke. I believe that there are more crappies above the dam in the deeper water. Both the Chip and Flambeau get pretty weedy from about the second week in june till about Labor day. There is more deep water in the chippeawa especially as you head towards Holcombe. It kinda reminds me of the St.Croix minus the really big cruisers. Check out Flaters resort it is on the confluence of the Chip and Flambeau, Joe guides for muskies and has been at it for quite awhile. There is a decent panfish lake a couple miles out of Bruce called Amacoy and there is a lake called fireside further out as well. Poke around the Ladysmith area as there are also some trout streams around there and near Weyerhouser to the West of Bruce. Hope this helps. Watch your regs though as it is in a indian treaty area. Tuneriver~

[Rivernut]

Thanks Tuneriver, great info. I'll post how I do. Taking a couple of day's in a couple of week's. Much appreciated.

[tunrevir]

Was out on the Flambeau this weekend. It was very weedy as expected but the smallies were on fire! I used a 1/8th oz. weedless jig and spinner with a chartruese twister tail and did pretty well. The largest smallie I caught was 18 1/2" with many in the 12-14" range. I had some luck with chug bugs on the surface and surprisingly even caught a walleye on it! Had one muskie fallow and saw about four others sunning themselves as I was wading. I fished mainly the early morning hours from about 530-930 a.m. It is really alot of fun, you will like the area once you get used to fishing the river.

[Rivernut]

That sounds like a blast. I wonder how long the fish stay before they head for their wintering spots. Reason I ask, I love to fall fish. Sept.- early Nov.

[tunrevir]

The fish stay well into september, Labor day is some good fishing but the weeds begin to die off around then which can make it difficult fishing. The smallies go on a terror late september filling up on crayfish prior to winter. We have caught them when they were so full they were bell shaped and belching crawdads but still smacked a floating rapala. I have caught some of my biggest fish of the year in early october. Also the Flambeau is a great sturgeon fishery with alot of quality fish and that opens in the fall. The pike and bass bite well during the day and the cats, walleyes and sturgeon bite decent at night.

Tunrevir~

[Rivernut]

Great info. Their property is right on the river, just south of Bruce about a mile & 1/2. Again, thanks for the info!

[tunrevir]

Just a side note, if you golf bring your clubs the Amacoy course is right across the road from the lake. It is a fun little course to go out and knock it around a bit.

Tunrevir~

[tunrevir]

Hey Rivernut, I just got back from Bruce this weekend and had a pretty good fish. The water was low and weedy as I suspected but the fishing was good anyway. I mainly fished topwaters and a mister twister in chartruese. Tha smallies were going pretty wild and some nice fish were to be had. I caught 2, 18 1/2 alot of twelve to fourteens and one sow that was 21"! I did manage a pick or two but unfortuneately there is a shadow on the fish. I will try to figure out how to post it though so you can have a peek. I figured that it weighed in the 5-51/2 pound range. Good fishing!

Tunrevir~

[Rivernut]

21 1/2, holy *$"%! That is a horse. The only thing I can say is that is well over the 5 lb. mark. Congrat's. I'm going this weekend to Bruce. They are 1/4 mile so of town right on the river. Some pic's would be nice. Later.

[tunrevir]

Rivernut, I have the picture on shutterfly but read that the photo share site doesn't dowload from there right. I mightbe able to send it directly to you if you want to give me your e-mail address. Totally up to you. How did your weekend go? Catch any biggins? The smallies on the flowage are reallly starting to heat up right now.

Tunrevir~

[Rivernut]

Did not get up there this weekend, hopefully Laborday weekend. e-mail, [email protected]. I have the week of Sept.12-16 off. I will definitely get over for at least a few days. The gal doesnt have it off, so I'll be solo. Have a good one. Mike.

[tunrevir]

Rivernut, I am going to try and send this through. I will be up in that neck of the woods over Labor day as well. I plan on fishing early mornings 6-9 a.m. I wade the Flambeau and if you have waders and are interested I would take you out on the area that I am familiar with. How far are you from Amacoy lake? It is about 20 min-1/2 hour from the cabin. Bring your golf clubs as the Amacoy lake course is a fun course to play if you have time.

Tunrevir~

[Rivernut]

Picture did'nt make it. Their place is 1/4 mile out of Bruce on 40.

[tunrevir]

Hey Rivernut, I will again try to e-mail that picture to you. Just curious to see if you got out this weekend. I was at the cabin and fished each morning. Caught many smallies in the 16-18" range and one small pike. The weeds are really starting to die back now and I suspect that by next weekend the will really be sparse. Should make for great fishing. I caught all of my smallmouth this weekend in wood cover casting shorelines. Nothing in the deeper channels. A frog colored Rapala skitter pop in green worked well and when they would blow up on it and miss if I couldn't get them to hit again I switched to a chartruese twister tail and spinner and usually got them to bite. Caught one this weekend that was 19 3/4! A pig! I'll try and send that picture again tonight. Good fishing!

Tunrevir~

[Rivernut]

I did not, had some things come up.*#!%#!!!!!! No excuses now. I have next week off and no specific plans. WILL be out there at some point. Those are some nice fish. I"ll look for the pics.

[Rivernut]

Hey Tunrevir, I'm off the week of 9/12-9/16. I am absolutely,positively, going to Bruce that week. Probabely Wed.-Fri. or Sat. If I fish the Flambeau, do I fish from my boat or shore. It's a 16ft. v. Fairly shallow drafted. Also need to try the Chip. and even the Holcombe Flowage. Thank's!

[tunrevir]

The boat is probably better suited to the Chip as the Flambeau is pretty shallow right now. The good news is that if you have a pair of waders you can wade the Flambeau pretty easily. There is an access off from F just past Flaters resort just go down to the blue bridge and you will see an access on the right as you come over the bridge. To get there, take 40 south to F, Left on F. I'd say it is probably 6-8 miles down F. When you hit the junction of E and F, Flaters resort is on your left. Continue on F another mile and you will see the Blue bridge. I know that you can access alot of water from that launch. Ihaven't fished that area but I haer that there are some nicer eyes, smallies and pike down that way with maybe a Muskie or two thrown in. You may be able to wade the Chip by your sisters as I believe that it is a bit shallower up that way as well. My best spots for fish have been anything with down timber and current flowing into the bank. I fish 1/8 oz weedless jigheads w/ chartruese twister tail and silver spinners as you can get them right into the thick stuff without getting hung up. Bring along some floating raps, #5-7 shad raps and some surface baits. I like the rapala skitter pop in green frog this time of year. The weeds are dying back and should be pretty sparse by now and allow you to start fishing with raps ect. Long cast minnows work great but I have had the lips bust off from banging rocks along the bottom. If the weeds are down and you have a deeper area near by 6-9'is deep on the Flambeau in most areas, I like to throw out a small sucker on a phelps floater with a 2' mono leader and 1-2 oz bell sinker and wait for the cats to bite. Cat bite can be really good but it is tough fishing if the weeds are floating around. Many cats in the 8-15lb range. I have even caught a few on thundersticks and twister tails! You may want to give Amacoy lake a try as you aren't to far from that lake either. There are some really nice crappies there if you can find them. Watch your regs though as it is all situated in the treaty area. Have a super time hope you catch a bunch! I love that area. Flaters is a good place to get fishing info if Joe is around. They guide for muskies and have for years.

Tunrevir~

[Rivernut]

Excellent info Tunrevir, I'll let you know how I do. Nothing keeping me from going this time. I think I'll bring one of my Musky rod's along w/ a lure or two. Appreciate the info.

[Rivernut]

Tunrevir, fished Amacoy on Thursday AM, caught some crappies. There was a huge algea bloom. Fishing was tough, but did manage some fish in 17ft. of water. thanks for the info. Did drive down to Holcombe flowage. Man is that beautiful, deinitely have to hit that some time. Later

[tunrevir]

Rivernut, I am still in california but the golf AND fishing here isn't bad either. How were the crappies? Any size to them? Did you get a chance to fish the Chip or Flambeau? I'll be back to my home computer tomorrow to follow up.

Tunrevir~

[Rivernut]

I did not get to try the Flambeau. My sister accidentally shut her car door on my thumb. My right thumb. Good thing I have taught myself to cast my baitcasters w/ my left hand also. Crappies were 8-9". Algea made a very thick film on the water. 2 boats on the water said it was slow but normally a good crappie and bass lake. I'll get out there again. I did go out on the Croix by Beanies and caught some nice waldo's on Friday afternoon.

[tunrevir]

Sounds like the ol croix was the ticket once again. The action should get better and better. Sorry to hear about the thumb..ouch! I will hopefully be getting back up to Bruce in a couple weeks to try for some smallies, walters and such. The weeds should be pretty much gone and the fishing should be good. The walleyes start migrating towards the dam and you can see them at night in 1' of water along the shore by our cabin. Good nights to cast floating raps from the deeper part of the channel towards the bank. I get mostly pike and smallies during the day this time of year and walleyes and cats at night. I get kind of torn this time of year whether to bowhunt or to fish! I plan to fish untill freeze up, I will probably spend most of my time on the Croix but have a few good options on the lakes close to the house as well. I'm looking foreward to the full moon of October and plan to drag cranks on Mille lacs a night or two. The cold isn't much fun but it only takes one 29-30" walter to warm you up real fast!

Tunrevir~