Brule River Steelhead

Looking to hit the Brule River, WI north of Highway 2 on the first weekend of May. My current plan is to sleep in my car along one of the spots and wade upstream in the morning. I’m a degenerative spinning-gear fisherman with some insulated waders and some big dreams. Looking for any account of experiences in this area fishing for Superior Steelhead. I have had lots of success in size three gold Meps and some bubble floats for utilizing flies down in SE Minnesota, so perhaps they will make an appearance. Any tips?

Hey Steve, #3 mepps mostly silver will work well. Most if not all of the fish will be post spawn by then. River will be flooded next 4 to 7 days thanks to mother nature’s snow and rain past 3 days with one more to go. X 4 flatfish is also a good bet for the river Steel. A Blue Fox Vibrax is another great lure to try. Good luck….

Just a heads up that it’s illegal to camp at the fisherman parking lots. Good luck!

Yea, grab a spot at Copper Range campground you’ll be much better off. Hungry Trout is right there.

Fishing aint to bad in that area either

You’re not too likely to be able to wade most waters upstream from County hwy B. Too brushy or too mucky. I’d target waters downstream from WI 13 and fish for drop-backs using crawlers and hardware. Insulated waders shouldn’t be needed by early May.

Drizzy Musky wrote:

Yea, grab a spot at Copper Range campground you’ll be much better off. Hungry Trout is right there.

Fishing aint to bad in that area either

Great insight! I will check it out. Good thing I posted here before making the excursion.

duh queen wrote:

You’re not too likely to be able to wade most waters upstream from County hwy B. Too brushy or too mucky. I’d target waters downstream from WI 13 and fish for drop-backs using crawlers and hardware. Insulated waders shouldn’t be needed by early May.

That’s super good info. And regarding the dam, is it decent fishing on either end of that or would I want to be even closer to the lake? If you can’t tell I’m new to tracking my river to sea salmonoids. Presumably they could jump right over but perhaps a majority don’t bother? Also, is public access to these stretches or river exclusive to the roads crossing it or is it open to access in other ways?

ProStaffSteve wrote:

That’s super good info. And regarding the dam, is it decent fishing on either end of that or would I want to be even closer to the lake? If you can’t tell I’m new to tracking my river to sea salmonoids. Presumably they could jump right over but perhaps a majority don’t bother? Also, is public access to these stretches or river exclusive to the roads crossing it or is it open to access in other ways?

Look up the Brule River Sportsman’s Club. You can purchase a map of the Brule that shows all the parking areas. You can cover a large percentage of the river from these parking areas. The dam has a fish ladder with counting station. My recollection is the dam itself is not really constructed in a manner that allows the fish to jump it. The majority of the steelhead enter the river in fall and go up well past the dam.

tegg wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>ProStaffSteve wrote:</div>
That’s super good info. And regarding the dam, is it decent fishing on either end of that or would I want to be even closer to the lake? If you can’t tell I’m new to tracking my river to sea salmonoids. Presumably they could jump right over but perhaps a majority don’t bother? Also, is public access to these stretches or river exclusive to the roads crossing it or is it open to access in other ways?

Look up the Brule River Sportsman’s Club. You can purchase a map of the Brule that shows all the parking areas. You can cover a large percentage of the river from these parking areas. The dam has a fish ladder with counting station. My recollection is the dam itself is not really constructed in a manner that allows the fish to jump it. The majority of the steelhead enter the river in fall and go up well past the dam.

Ohhh I see. So I had another pot tell me that hitting fish dropping back I the move. Do you feel that dropping back means upstream of the dam area still? Feels like they will be in both areas.

ProStaffSteve wrote:

Ohhh I see. So I had another pot tell me that hitting fish dropping back I the move. Do you feel that dropping back means upstream of the dam area still? Feels like they will be in both areas.

Hard to say on timing this spring. More cold weather to start next week. Sounded like some fish on the north shore over Easter weekend but not peak of the spring run.

tegg wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>ProStaffSteve wrote:</div>
Ohhh I see. So I had another pot tell me that hitting fish dropping back I the move. Do you feel that dropping back means upstream of the dam area still? Feels like they will be in both areas.

Hard to say on timing this spring. More cold weather to start next week. Sounded like some fish on the north shore over Easter weekend but not peak of the spring run.

Wow, I really need to spell check before hitting send. I will admit, I have done some research and it seems that May 7th is the opener for water UP STREAM from highway 2… I love planning trips to exotic fishing and hunting but it can be so hard to understand regulations that are broken down this deep. I suppose I will grab my waders and shoot for the stars. I find myself rather competent for catching trout and I’m sure I’ll run into those. Really hitting my first steel head is the goal here. I’m sure when I get to the area it will be more clear where I should go.

If you decide to camp at Copper you could easily see if anything is going on around the Copper/FF/Mays area. If not try dropping down to Hwy 13/McNeils or further downstream if needed. All of those areas are well below Hwy 2.

As stated staying overnight in the fisherman parking areas isn’t allowed. Will a sheriff bother you? Probably not. You can always drive away if they do. Or park in one of the business parking lots in town. In the Spring it’s harder to catch fish on spinners, spoons and plugs. Those baits work good in the Fall. I’d use stonefly nymphs, yarn flies, beads or spawn sacs. The water has been high and muddy this Spring. Hopefully it will be better by May 1st.

Jay Tegeder wrote:

As stated staying overnight in the fisherman parking areas isn’t allowed. Will a sheriff bother you? Probably not. You can always drive away if they do. Or park in one of the business parking lots in town. In the Spring it’s harder to catch fish on spinners, spoons and plugs. Those baits work good in the Fall. I’d use stonefly nymphs, yarn flies, beads or spawn sacs. The water has been high and muddy this Spring. Hopefully it will be better by May 1st.

Lol. Don’t feel like having a sheriff wake me to save $10 on parking. I will park somewhere.

Being a spinning gear guy I should stock up on bubble floats to throw fly gear then… I sure hope the water clears up. If not I will have to bank on flashy & fast fishing.