Steelhead season is here!!!

[Quickstrike]

I know there is a lot of interest on this site concerning steelhead fishing on the north and south shores of Lake Superior so I thought I would give an update for people who are planning trips or just curious.

The season for the Brule River in WI downstream from HW 2 is now open. The river is mostly free of ice and the water is at a very good level flowing at about 180 cfps. I hit the brule with a couple friends on saturday and we landed 8 steelhead with the biggest going 29.5 inches. Normally, I fish with mostly flies such as wooly buggers, stone flies, superior X legs and a few other patterns I whip up but on saturday, yarn was by far the most productive presentation.

As for the north shore; a few rivers are beggining to open up. It will still be a week or so until most rivers are clear of ice, although with some rain followed by sunshine things could be going a lot faster. Fish are very concentrated by the mouths of these rivers now and it shouldn't be long before we have some fantastic fishing up here. We had a great run last year and it's looking like this year is going to be just as good or better!

One side note, I respect one's rights to keep fish and I will keep a fish here and there myself. However, I do encourage everyone to release most if not all of these steelhead (it's the law on the north shore). The brule gets a lot of pressure and C@R is the ticket to maintaining it as one of the elite steelhead rivers in the great lakes system.

[fishin_spooge]

Thanks for the report QS, if I can find it in the budget to buy a heavier fly rod I'm coming up for sure. I don't think my 5 wt would hold up. Do guys use spin gear? Thanks again, and love reading the reports wishing I was up there.

Justin

[Quickstrike]

I personally use a 7 wt fly rod on most outings, but many do people use spinning gear for both drifting and fishing hardware. I don't think I would use a 5 wt. I have used a 6 a couple of times and it works but you get rocked by a nice steelie pretty good.

[Quickstrike]

Update on Brule and North Shore conditions as of sat march 31:

I made a trip over to the Brule early yesterday morning to see if the river was fishable. The water was very high and fast (about 300 cfps) and the color of chocolate milk.

I decided instead to go check out the north shore. All the rivers are now shooting out lots of water, but there is still a lot of ice underneath. People are doing well fishing in and near the mouths of a couple different rivers right now while we wait for the ice to wash away and for the gravel to reveal itself.

If you are planning a trip up here, I would say wait until next weekend or later, by then things should be going quite well.

[-Marc V-]

Thanks for the reports on what's happening up there QS. Other years it seemed difficult to get an idea of what was going on from down here in the cities. Still haven't made it up there yet for Steelheading. Have an invitation to go next week. Still thinking about it.

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

Next week should be pretty decent. There's a few fish in north shore rivers now, but the water's real cold and they're not all that active. Combine that with the high, dirty water and you've got all the ingredients for a tough day on the water. I was out for most of the day today and only hooked one fish. Saw one other that was foul hooked and that was about it. High water isn't a terrible thing when the fish are willing to move a little to take a fly, but it seems like they're sitting pretty tight right now. As soon as the water levels drop a little and warm up the fun should begin

[fishface]

How do you guys decide what your going to keep? Not for mounting. Do you let the larger ones go? For all your trout fishing. N. Shore, Brule, The Big lake, little lakes inland, The Southern streams, You know everywhere. Are you more apt to keep stocked fish? How 'bout the loopers? I'm just learing this trout thing. Thanks.

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

I firmly believe in whacking loopers That's what they're there for after all. You can only keep a steelhead on the north shore if it's clipped (and therefore stocked), but most guys- including QS and myself prefer to let them go make little baby steelhead. The steelhead are a lot more fun to catch, and you can usually run into plenty of loopers if you're looking for dinner (or just a little recreational clubbing ) As far as the Brule is concerned, its kind of a personal choice (within the the limits of the 1 fish, 26" min regulation). But as I said we usually put enough loopers out of business that fish for the dinner table is not a major issue. We didn't see anyone leaving the Brule with a fish on opener, and quite a few were caught. There was evidence of a few fish being whacked in the days following, but I think most guys let them go.

[mlvaj]

Hi everyone,

Me and a couple of buddies are coming up to the North Shore on the 15th of April. Any suggestions on lures? Fly rod or Spin? Also, what's the word on the smelts? Are they on yet? Hope to see everyone in a couple of weeks.

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

Keep an eye on the duluth forum for smelting info. As far as steelhead presentations go, they've proabably all been covered there too so a search might help you out.

Some guys use spinning gear and some use fly, I've done both and have come to prefer the fly route. I've used mono on a fly setup with a lot of success, but a character named Quickstrike lured me over to the dark side (fly fishing) this year, and it's starting to take hold. I think there are still situations (like low, clear water) where mono might be advantageous, but you can also use flyline to make a lot of drifts that would be difficult-to-impossible with mono. It basically boils down to preference- I'm using flyline this year, but I still carry a reel with mono on it in case I want to switch.

As far as presentations go, most will use either spawn or yarn flies on the north shore, although there are guys that do well on flies.

Hope that helps you a little, otherwise do a search on the Duluth forum and you'll proabably be reading all day.

[mlvaj]

Thanks Port

I'll check it out