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“More Light More Bite” was our motto on the Brule last week, unlike many who took the “First Light First Bite” philosophy to heart. We decided it was better to be well rested, well fed and warm if we were going to get skunked, rather than tired, cold, and hungry with the same result. However, the river did give up some fun rod action to my friend Kurtis and I in our 4 day stay this week. Don’t get me wrong, the catching was tough, the conditions were tough and the boasting in the bar was in short supply.

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Conditions 

-Flows are slightly below average for this time of year. The river feels lower and clearer than usual(probably because it is).

-Stealth will help, but only if you are the first one in the spot. Anglers are marching out into the middle of runs and pools without any regard for the spooky nature of these large fish. There were no lack of anglers this last week and this weekend will only bring more.

-Still lots of leaves and needles to be blown off trees. The north is beautiful with color and many leaves are just hitting the water now. Prepare to pull a lot of leaf litter off your hooks.

-We caught or hooked as many browns as steelhead. None of the steelhead were fresh except one skip jack.  These factors probably indicate more steelhead are yet to come when river conditions improve. The river needs some water but we will know more after this next weeks fishing catching reports. Measurable rain is not in the forecast as of right now.

-Newer, prettier, nicer, bar tenders at the Kro-Bar. We one $20.00 at bar trivia along with some nice folks from Iowa. It almost covered our bar tab(not).

 

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All and all, the chat with other anglers was good. Some were skunked, some lost their steelhead virginity. Some were content to just be there.
Give me a report if you have one.