Steelhead Report

Brule River

Douglas County

4/16-4/18

Weather: Warm, Sunny, Beautiful!
Water: 46F, slightly dirty, average flow
Hatches: N/A
Time: all day

Comments: It appears that the steelhead run on the Brule is winding down. After spending three days on the river, my brother and I managed to land a grand total of 0 fish. We hooked 3. All of the fish that I saw were very dark and backing out of the river. We did spot a few fish on gravel, but these fish were also dark and wanted nothing to do with our flies. A few people we talked to had been having limited success, but no one had any stories of bright fish. I also heard from a local that over 800 fish went past the lamprey barrier is February....that is the majority of the run. Water is 46F so fish should be spawning.

On a brighter note, we did manage to fill a cooler full of smelt in Ashland in two nights. This was the first tiem I hade tried netting smelt and it was a blast! Lanterns, bonfires, etc. It was a nice change of pace after a day on the river.

Carpe Piscem

Scott Obremski obremski@coredcs.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------