Brule River

[mlvaj]

I'm heading up to the Brule this weekend for some canoeing and some fishing. Anyone knows what I should use to catch the trout on the Brule? I'll be bringing both my fly rod and my spinning rod. Any help will be appreciated.

[say_der]

I fished the Brule in Judge C.R. Magney State Park a couple weeks ago. The water was very low. I did manage a couple very small trout which I immediately put back. Not sure how a canoe would work on this river at all, there are a lot of rocks and low areas.

Good luck.

[EatSleepFish]

hopper hatch should be picking up in that area...

[Quickstrike]

I assume you are talking about the brule in WI, you should also post this is the WI forum. I only fly fish over there so I don't know what spinning techniques are going for spin guys. If you fly fish at all, I can tell you that tricos are hatching in the morning, and hoppers should start any day. Big searching drys such as wulffs and humpys have been working, as well as streamers such as madonnas and wooly buggers. I have heard of fish being caught from stones bridge all the way to mcneils landing. (basically the whole river) so pick a access point and have fun.

[mlvaj]

Thanks guys. Yes I'm talking about the Brule in WI. I'll go ahead and give it a try this weekend.

[bigdog]

We have had good luck with large gold Panther Martin spinners and #5 or #7 trout colored floating Rapala's.

[skink]

mlvaj, let me know how it was with the canoe?

good luck!

[thistlekicker]

I've been over to the river several times in the past week. It's been very slow during daylight hours. After dark is a different story.

Last night I got there just after the rain passed, and the fog was rolling in. I fished for about an hour without any action, then as it got dark the fish started to show themselves. Between the dark and the fog and the sounds of rising fish it was surreal. I landed a 16" bow on a muddler, then decided it was too spooky not being able to see my hand in front of my face even with my headlamp on.

Wading back to the trail the fog was so thick I couldn't see more than the few feet of river bottom directly in my headlamp beam - I just watched my feet as I shuffled along and listened for the rapids I knew marked my takeout point.

Once I got off the water, the fog dispersed and as I hiked through the dripping woods I saw heat lightning sparking in the distance.

Not a bad way to spend a couple hours in the dog days of summer.

[Quickstrike]

I've been out at night quite a bit over the last week or so and it's been pretty slow. A fish here and a fish there, but no where as good as i know it can be. Deer hair moths, muddler minnows, zoo cougars, and some giant caddis skated across the water have seemed to work. In a couple weeks when we start seeing a few more lake run fish, i'll be switching over to bigger flies such as dahlbergs and moussies.