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Written by Andy
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Thursday, 03 January 2008 |
A Fall Brule Trip
Posted on October 15, 2007
Autumn rains brought the Brule flows up, and we headed up
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 The Bois Brule river of Northern Wisconsin starts calling my name about mid-October every year. Various species of fish from Lake Superior enter the river in the Fall, and a good angler can catch some real trophies. Cohos, Chinooks, big Lake-run Browns, Brookies, Pinks, and of course Steelhead can all be caught. The Brule and its' Fall runs are dependent on rains to bring up the water levels, and push new runs upstream. This year the river valley experienced some heavy rains in early October, which spiked the flows and probably pushed more fish in. We hit the river as it gradually fell toward normal levels, and cleared up as well.
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 Rich and I camped on the Brule for two days, and fished the river pretty hard. JK and Leakywaders had caught some Chinooks in Michgan, and given me a very generous supply of fresh spawn. I tied up some spawnbags with the eggs, a well as some fresh brown trout spawn that I gathered before the stream trout season closed. With a high, colored river to deal with, we felt that this spawn would be our best option for getting some fish to bite.
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 Well, we started fishing hard early on Saturday, and after a little Skipjack landed by me, Rich hooked up with a high-leaping Chromer. This Steelhead fought Rich hard on his medium-light tackle, but he endured the fish's lighning-fast runs and cartwheling leaps. I slipped the net under the fish, and Rich had landed his first-ever Steelhead! Not just any old Steelhead, but a wild Brule River Chromer. The fish was fresh from the lake, shaped like a metal football, about 20" in length.
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What a great fish! I was very glad to see Rich lose his Brule virginity, and get hooked on this Steelheading bug. We fished through the rest of the day and landed no more fish. Well, we landed countless Steelhead smolts(babies from 6-13 inches), as well as a few foot-long brown trout, but I don't count these as fish on the Brule. We each lost one big Steelhead today as well. This just keeps you humble.
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 Saturday night, Avidfly and LotaLota visted our campfire. We swapped stories and exchanged theories well into the night, then they left to find a piece of river to fish in the morning. Rich and I decided that or chosen stretch of the Brule held fish, and it as just a matter of persistence to get a few on the bank. We slept well despite temps dropping into the mid-20's. Waking up to frozen waders and boots, we drank a pot of coffee and hit the river. Luck was still not on our side this morning. We hiked a long way upstream, fished some beautiful runs, and still landed no Steelhead. I hooked up with three good fish, and each one kicked my butt in a different way. We ate lunch and packed up camp, then hit our favorite hole again before heading home. I hooked up with a small Chromer, who took in the slow tailout of the hole. This fish leapt four times, and ran around the big pool peeling drag. What a fight! I finally landed a Steelhead, and she was a gorgeous 22-inch fish.
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 Here's a good look at our most productive hole, just below our tent. The Brule was still gorgeous, even though Fall colors were past prime. The Birches and Poplars were still gold, and the abundant pines made for a nice backdrop. The Brule proved to be a little stingy, despite our high hopes. He camping and fishing were phenomenal, but the catching was so-so.........
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~Andrew Geving, roughfisher-at-large
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 January 2008 )
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