Some of our group took an extended stay at the Brule after the first meeting of the Men with Big Balls/Jim’s bachelor party event. Brule theory was offered up by a knowledgable angler who I accidently startled on one of the bigger holes in the river. His focus was so,,, well focused, that he almost jumped out of his wadders when I asked him how the fishing had been. His first comment was that there were no fish in the river (Brule theory #6) Later on in the conversation after he warmed up to our kind demeanor he told us thathe had hooked a few earlier in the morning. Jeff and I were both perplexed but we listened with kind ears and pleasant smiles. He eventually gave up his spot to us.
The boys had some better luck after I left on Sunday Two of my friends went 10 for 12 in one short run. Mostly chrome fish. Others had at lest one hook-up per day.
Ball Check
Just got word from today, Saturday. All parking lots were jam packed with anglers all day mayn with no spots left to park at all. Angler sucess was quite variable with slow catching being the ruleHere are a few picks from this week. Ben Sorensen took many of these the sensational photos. Let me know how you did.
I think the small amount of rain and the fact that that the peak of the run is historically the second week in Oct. brought a few more fish in late in the week. Doug got a number of bright fish close to the lake on Thurs and Friday. Really the bit of warm weather made a difference in the bite as well. The water temps were 42 degrees. On cold days the bite was poor. The days we got a reasonable warm up were the best for catching.
Net Fault
Landed Through The Hole In The Net
Bridgeway to Heaven
4 users commented in " Brule River Steelhead Report 10/15 through 20 "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHad good luck on the Brule this weekend. 3 guys hooked about 20 fish with 9 steelhead landed, and a couple browns for good measure. What was thought to be a King and a very large, very red fish were both lost in battle. What a great time!
A
Sounds like a great outing! We met a guy last week who had paddled a kayak from High landing to Hwy 2 and said he was surprised at how many Kings and Coho’s he saw in and around the meadows section of water. He said they were very spooky in the low clear water and any movement would spook the fish into fleeing the scene
Hi Andy,
My buddy and I fished the Brule this weekend. The water is still low and clear, with water temps ranging from 40 degrees in the morning to 45 degrees in the afternoon. In speaking with many fisherman, it seems like most success was after first light. Mid afternoon was probaby better spent watching football at the Kro Bar. Our limited success came early in the morning. On Sunday, I caught a 22″ steelhead and when my friend came by, I gave the pool to him, asking him if he could hit the far eddy with his 11′ 7 wt switch rod, which I would not with my 9′ rod. He could, and connected with a very large fish on a streamer, that he lost. A few casts later and he got a 28″ steelie. This morning my shoulder feels like a pitched 3 complete games in a row with no rest days inbetween. I tried my buddy’s switch rod a bit on Sunday afternoon and I am going to retire my 9 footer for steelhead fishing the Brule. It cast indicator/nymph rigs and streamer with ease. Andy, I know you have said you also prefer the 11′ 7 wt.
My friend and I made an interesting observation, comparing notes from this weekend. We caught some really nice browns, with my friend catching one that went 22″. We caught the browns when we happened not to have a trailing egg fly off our X-legs, etc. Anyone else notice that big browns are turned off by egg patterns, or was it just coincidence?
Greg
Greg
Nice work. Well The Brule is finally getting some much needed rain and flows will continue to head upwards for a few days. This may be the help in getting a few more fish into the river and dirty that water some.
As far as browns and eggs it is a curious observation and will be considered for Brule theory #269. Although I have caught browns on egg patterns, in my own experience they do heavily lean towards eating my bug offerings.
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