When the leaves change and the fall rains drive the fair weather fishermen inside, Brule River anglers are finding trophy trout. Every year around this time the big rainbow trout head out of Lake Superior and up Wisconsin's Brule River. The chance to catch these brutes and experience the hardest fighting fish that dwell in our rivers is only a few hours drive North. Rainbows from 16" to over 30" are called from the depths of the Greatest Lake with the harshest conditions to make their spawning journey up the river. These giant trout are called Steelhead because of the steel color of the dorsal side of the fish. Eventually the steel color gives way to the pink stripe and spots most recognizable as a rainbow trout. This change becomes more apparent the longer they are in the river. The rainbows live in the lake and spawn in the river. Although there are many theories on their movement in and out of the river, most of the adults come into the river in the fall and early winter and spend the winter months preparing for the spring spawn. The trout then move to the lake in the spring after spawning and will not come into the river again until the next fall. Young fish spend between 1 to 4 years in the lake before returning to the river as adults. The trout grow quickly because of the large forage base in Lake Superior.
The Brule River is the storied water of Presidents past and has a rich fishing history back to the Native Americans. The setting is the North Woods, and its rural setting is comforting compared to the urban fisheries of the eastern edge of Wisconsin. Learn more about these fish, the fishery, and the tactics needed to take these fish on a fly rod at Gray Goat Fly Fishing and the Brule River Sportsman Club.