Fishing the Brule River

Last weekend I went with the St. Paul Fly Tiers and Fisherman's Club up to the Brule River to catch some Steelhead.  I think it had been a couple years since I had bite, but I was hoping this weekend would be different.  We were staying at a cabin right on the river which allowed for easy access which was good since i did need to study for my Business Ethics class.  So I did have high aspirations but low expectations.

On Friday after cooking breakfast I went with out with another Fly Tier Joe Lucey near the cabin.  I managed to hook and land a 25 incher in the morning.  My first steelhead in years and first over 20 inches.  This allowed me to study in the afternoon and enjoy Bob Feiker's rib dinner in the evening.

Saturday morning after breakfast Joe and I headed out again and i caught another 25 incher from a different hole. What luck, two fish in one weekend.  Again in the afternoon I studied and enjoyed Tony Stifter's grilled steaks in the evening.  We had 18 people show up for dinner.

On Sunday I made the breakfast again for everyone and went out by myself right away.  I found a spot i wanted too try and i caught a 23 incher. Using a little tripod I was able to take some pictures.  I was three for three with a fish each day.   All fish were on a glo-bug.  I will probably never have another weekend like it on the Brule.

Winter fly fishing on April

Today I meet up with several other members of the St. Paul Fly Tiers for breakfast in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. This was for our April outing. This year is different than others as it was snowing and 30 degrees F. On the way the the restaurant road conditions got really bad for a few miles in River Falls. There was a couple mile stretch that had several cars in the ditch and top speed you could safely travel was 30 mph. After getting through River Falls the roads improved.
There was 3 other crazy guys like me who still wanted to fish in the poor weather. After breakfast we went to the Rush River. It was crystal clear an 41 degrees F. We started at Stonehammer and went upstream. I found that a Tup's Indispensable was the best fly today. It snowed, rained and sleeted during the day and there was no visible hatch, but there were a few fish that were surfacing. I only caught brown trout today as the Brookies were shy. Even with the bad weather it was nice to catch a handful of trout.

New Years 2012

It had been a few years since we had gone anywhere for New Years and thought that it was probably a good time to do something different.  Sue's friend Brenda from Kalamazoo, Michigan has been dating Captain John who lives in Islamorada and they decided to invite us down share a beach side apartment with them for the Holiday.  We decided this year for New Years we would to enjoy the warmth of the Florida Keys. 

We flew down to Miami on Friday December 30th and Brenda had flown into Fort Lauderdale and picked us up on the way to Islamorada.  It was a beautiful day and we stopped at Gilbert's Resort in Key Largo for Lunch. 

After a nice fish sandwich and oysters we continued onto the hotel, La Siesta in Islamorada.  We had a great two bedroom ocean side hotel.  It was two levels with two patio balconies for enjoying the great setting.

Captain John is a fishing captain who fishes mostly the backcountry waters on the gulf side of island.  So, I brought a few flies along to try and see if I would have any luck on the water.  We went fishing two different times during the trip.  John keeps his boat at the World Wide Sportsman's in Islamorada and we headed out from there.  Both trips were successful fishing outings as we caught bluefish, Spanish mackerel, grouper and snapper.  I didn't catch a tarpon but we did watch them roll on the surface near where we were fishing and I did spot one right below the boat as I was casting for them.

For the New Years eve the girls got all dressed up and we went and had a nice diner at the Turtle Inn.  The restaurant was very busy and the food was delicious.  After dinner we stopped by a couple places for a drink and to listen to some music.  The first place had a tent and a live band.  We danced to a few songs on the beach and then headed to the next place.  There we listened to a few songs and then headed back to the apartment. 

It was a great trip and very relaxing.  It was so nice to be able to get up in the morning and sit on the balcony and have breakfast.  The pace was perfect for midwinter break.  We will definitely be going back to the area again.