Fall on the Brule

[scifisher]

HI guys;

I have lived in the twin ports for three years and I have been fishing brule pretty religiously during that time. I have caught a few fish, but my luck is in need of a booster shot. If anyone can help me with some steelhead/salmon/lakebrown info that would be great. Times, baits, and (hopefully) locations would be most welcome. Also, if anyone wants to go fishing...

scifisher

[can it be luck?]

Scifisher, sounds like the bite is picking up on the Brule. I fished there once years ago. My friend floated the Brule last year duck hunting, he seen some really big ones in the clear water! I thought he was "pulling my leg", and I told him that the fish were probably big suckers. I'm starting to think it's time to do a little investigating. My problem is that when I drive 3 hours north, I want to keep heading straight to Minnesota!

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Jim W]

Guys, I don't have the link but there is info and statistics on peak time frames for Lake Run Browns, steelies and salmon to make their journey up the Brule.

I just returned from there. We could have landed some real trophies. Granted a 5 pound Brown I caught was nothng to sneeze at, butwe saw several fish that dwarfed that one!

Scif: e-mail me if you wish.

Jim W

[Renneberg]

scifisher, if I were you I'd wait until about the middle of Sept. By then there will be a lot more trout and salmon in the river. Right now the ones that are making their way up river are holding in very key areas. These areas are very hard to find it you don't know where to look for them.

Wait until the Brule gets a good rain and then fish it as soon as possible. I'd start up near the mouth of the river, since the salmon and trout are easiest to catch when they first entire the river.

For salmon I like spoons better then anything else. Bright colors will work best. Bright colored flies also work great for salmon.
For trout try a rapala, spoons or spinners. Look for the deepest hole with wood. The more wood the better. They tend to show themselves very quickly, so if you don't see any fish don't stand there very long. The more water you cover the better your odds are of finding active trout or salmon.

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"Study to be quiet"

[scifisher]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I can't wait to get out. Probably sunday! A couple more questions. What size rapalas work best for trout? Mepps 1,2 or 3? Color of spinners and raps? Do people cast spoons off the mouth and catch fish?

Scifisher

[Renneberg]

Try 9's and 11 rapalas. I've caught fish on orange, yellow, black and silver. I cann't remember what Jim and Sarge caught their's on.

Size 2 and 3 spinners work best. Silver, gold, orange, or neon yellow. Keep in mind that the fish your after are bigger then average so you should fish bigger then average lures.

I've heard of people fishing at the mouth of the river but never heard of anyone have much luck.

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"Study to be quiet"

[looperhunter]

Fished the brule this evening, saw 2 small browns, none hooked, caught more trees than fish, this fly thing is quite new to me and i have a Bugger of a time casting with the indicator on, the line always seems to wrap. Bought some flies, but still looking for any information on how to fish this river. Just a rookie looking for guidence. I fished about 2 miles north of brule. Beautiful evening, just wish i was better with the fly rod! I heard from a very reliable source that a 20" steehead was caught 3 days ago. Rain, please Rain!! You'll be able to walk arcoss the river on fish if we get a good one. I will try to venture there again soon and hopefully catch something!

[scifisher]

As soon as the rain hits, I am going to hit the section of river by Brule River Road Hard!!!!!!!!! Hopefully see you there, Looperhunter.

[Northlander]

Scifisher Sat.is your day if we dont get any lightning with the rains. Not much rain expected but its worth a shot.

[scifisher]

Hey Northlander

I'm thinking about fishing on saturday, but I have to hire a baby sitter. My wife works saturday morning and saturday night. Maybe saturday evening will work. As long as I can get home by 10 pm. I hope the steelies start up. Were you still thinking of going out there?

Scifisher

[Northlander]

Didnt make it went Crappie fishing on the St.Louis.

[pout-slayer]

I had my best nite of fishing,so far,last nite. I started fishing just before dark with spinners,hopeing for some coho,no hits.After dark I went with the jointed rap and had 3 nice lake runs and missed a couple others by 11:00pm. Most of the action happened between 9:30 and 10:30 after that it shut off and the moon started comming out.

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HOOK-UM

[Guest]

Anybody have any reports from the brule? Has it rained up there yet or is the water still low?

Thanks.

[biff]

Rained yesterday, river up to 160...it's on.

[scifisher]

I'm going out sunday morning! I have a baby sitter and some time on my hands (at least until 1:00 pm) If anyone would like to hit the brule with a partner, let me know. I live in Soup Town (Superior). Just reply. I'll be checking throughout the day.

Scifisher

[scifisher]

Well, I'm back from the brule. I used spinners and covered lots of water. Had a good day! Two steelhead, one salmon - which got off at my feet, and one resident brown. I don't think that I've ever caught that many fish on the Brule before, but I do know that all of your advice helped. Thanks.

Scifisher

[Renneberg]

I had a great four days fishing the Brule. We caught Coho's, steelhead, both lake run and native browns, and a few brook trout and resident rainbows.

Biggest resident brown went 23 inches. Caught two others over 20 from the same hole and one 18 inch steelhead from that hole too. Since I caught the steelhead in the back of the hole and the big browns more in the middle to front of the hole. I'd say that the resident browns were either spawning or very close to spawning.

Cohos were small. Non bigger then 24 inches.

The brookies were from 6 to 11 inches and the resident rainbows were up to 14 inches.

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"Study to be quiet"

[scifisher]

Renneberg

I'm heading out to the Brule this weekend. How far up were your lake run fish? Pine Tree? FF? 13?

Scifisher

[Renneberg]

It's getting late in the year for Lake Run Browns. They start spawning in Oct. At this time of the year they are still going to be Lake runs moving up, but most of them are going to be in unfishable (upstream of hwy 2) now. I would fish around the Pine Tree landing area, because it offers deep water with gravel bottom. Keep a eye out for females hitting the bottom with their tails. I've seen them do that lots of times, even in areas where they don't spawn.
If you don't see any fish flash at your lure try somewhere else that offers deep water with gravel areas. Fish any of the deep gravel runs hard, since you could catch Lake run, steelhead or salmon in these areas and on the same lures.

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"Study to be quiet"

[nkambae]

Ren,

Just curious, how could you tell they were resident browns and not lake runs?

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stu

[nkambae]

Ren,

Just curious, how could you tell they were resident browns and not lake runs?

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stu

[scifisher]

Well, I hit the Brule this morning with two of my brothers. We got four fish between us. My brother caught one rainbow. I got two and one brown. All kinda small. They had lots of color so they have been in the river a while. We fished from FF up and worked a good 3-4 miles of river. It is a really cool section. The geology is fascinating. I like the ledges the river was running over. Seems to me that fish could be hiding right at the base of the those things. Hopefully this rain we are getting will bring in a new run of fish. I really need to catch a salmon. I am 0 and 2 this year. Both chinooks and both got off because I did stupid stuff. Wish me luck for tommorrow. I am going to the spot I yanked my 29 incher two weeks ago.

Scifisher

[Renneberg]

Nkambae, it's very easy to tell the difference between a lake run and a resident. The lake run browns don't have any red spots on their bodies.

Scifisher, how do you know you had on two kings? Are you sure they weren't cohos?
Kings start entiring the river not long after the Lake run Browns do in July. They also are usally spawning this time of the year.

I caught Kings last year in mid-sept. By then they were making their redds and some of them were already half rotted.

What was that 29 incher? Coho, steelhead, brown or small king?

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"Study to be quiet"

[scifisher]

Ren

The first king I hooked out was in september on the french. It was shortly after that rain we had back then. I tried to kick it on shore and kicked it off my line. It was about 10 lbs. The second king was a fish I hooked about a week later in the Brule. The darn thing was at my feet again and again, I attempted to get it on shore and kicked it off my line. AHHHH It was about ten lbs, also.

The 29 incher was a steelhead. In the three years I've been fishing up here, that was the best fish I've caught. And it will probably be a personal best for a long time.

Today fishing the brule was really slow. Between five people, we got one fish. A small steelie about 19 inches. The water below 13 was very silty and not much action, despite the rain. Above, it was flowing faster, but no fish. I wonder if spawn would have made the difference, or egg patters. I don't know. We fished spinners and did the whole run and gun routine, covering lots of water. I wonder where they all are? I wonder if they have even come in yet in a "run" or if its just going to be trickle trickle all fall. It was a beautiful day, but Sloooooooow. Maybe its time to learn some new techniques. I'm good at the spinner thing. Its more then just cast and reel in. There is a certain way to drift them that makes them work awesome. Drifting spawn? That method eludes me. Its probably easy, but all I ever get is bottom. HMMM, I wonder what else works? If I could have 3-4 good presentations worked out, that would be the bomb.

Scifisher

[mwal]

Hi Scifisher,

I to fish the Brule alot in the spring and fall and have found it benificial to know several techniques for catching steelies. Since you say you have a good knowledge of fishing spinners you could easily use floats to present spawn bags or live stoneflies to the trout. It is a very popular method in Canada and the west coast. I normally was a drift/yarn fisherman but since I converted to using floats more my catch rat has gone up. I still remain versatile and drift if conditions are right. But keep an open mind and try floats. I've also had good fall success on flatfish worked quatering downstream and letting the current provide the action. Also try night crawlers and tube jigs and waxies both have produced for me.

Mwal