My first steelhead trip

I'm heading out Thursday night after work to my first steelhead fishing trip. I'm going with a friend of mine and we are planning on staying at the Brule River Motel and Campground. [ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=brule+river+motel&hl=en&cd=1&ei=3_HGTK-iIpL0MtTK-LIE&sig2=oS4KmSk6Mey7SJkROrdWWQ&ie=UTF8&view=map&cid=8890984385968098320&ved=0CH4QpQY&hq=brule+river+motel&hnear=&ll=46.550361,-91.584349&spn=0.034531,0.055532&t=h&z=14"]Brule River Motel and Campground[/ame] He goes up there all of the time but I've never been. We are going to fish Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning.

I've got about 50 egg patterns tied and planning on tying about 20 egg sucking leeches. I don't have time to tie much else but I'm going to go out tonight and buy some various nymph patterns. I was thinking that I might be able to tie a couple streamers like mickey fins before the weekend as well.

I have a 9' 9wt TFP Pro Series I just finished building (I've never even casted it ) that will be my main rod and a 9' 8wt cabelas rod for a backup. I'm going to bring my 9' 6wt too, just in case. I've got one of Justin's Alpha series reels with his 9wt 2 color line and the cabelas reel with 8wt line. 2-9' 2x leaders and some 2x tippet.

Waders and boots and some warm long underwear for under the waders. I suppose I'll need a rain jacket and some gloves of some sort. Anything else I should bring?

Do I need a landing net? I don't have one but I might be able to buy one before this thursday. I have no idea how big to expect these guys to be so I'm not sure what size net I need if any.

I was hoping to bring a video camera of some sort but I dont think that will happen I'll have my still camera though.

Wish me luck!

Hi,

Rain and cold weather gear is always a good thing to take on a trip to the Lakes area. As for a net I wouldn't stress over that, just use the time proven method of selecting a good place to beach the fish. Stay back from the fish and don't let helpful people try to tail your fish. Just drag them into shallow water or get their head on dry land then run to the water line and grab them. When doing the "grab" do not lay your rod on the ground or someone may step on it and you'll need one of those back up rigs. Also when carrying additional rods and reels be sure to hide them from sight when leaving them in your vehicle. That pretty well covers my advice. If you want to read an article about landing big fish drop me a PM and I'll link you to it.

Tight lines,

Ard

Thanks Ard. I'm not to concerned about landing the fish. The guy I'm going with is treating this more like a guide trip for me so he will be there to help me out.

I talked to him last night and he said the river is normally around 150 cfm (I think he said cfm) and he has never fished it above 230 cfm and right now its at 300 cfm. It could be interesting.

Thanks for the advice! I'll take more if you got some. I'd really like to make the 6 hour drive each way worth it!

Looking at what's going on up that way weather wise, you will definitely need to bring your woolies...Layer your clothing for warmth and put a good wading jacket on top. As for flies get yourself some Hare's ear nymphs, caddis larvae, and small stonefly nymphs. You may need to go down size wise on your tippet material; I usually have some 3x and 4x in my vest.

With the higher flows hopefully your buddy has some smaller trib streams in mind.

Good Luck...

Dan

Dan knows that neck of the woods and can be good help. I mentioned landing them because I have seen many fish brought into shallow water only to bolt away when someone goes after them with a net or tries to tail them. You'll find out how your guide handles this I'm sure. If you do have trouble, the way I suggested is pretty foolproof provided you can find an area where you can back off about 5 or more yards from the edge of the water and drag them in. this is not picture perfect but will get them on the beach without a lot of confusion.

Good luck,

Ard

Thanks for the info guys. Sad to say but I just got the call my trip is canceled. :doh:

Hopefully it could work out to go in the next week or two but I think the season ends soon. I was so looking forward to it, and now very disappointed.

On the plus side maybe I can get my boat out and go fishing one more time around here.

I think I'm able to reschedule it. Going out the weekend it closes now. I hope the weather cooperates as do the fish. It gives me some more time to tie flies.

It's time again. I'm getting all packed up to head out on Friday afternoon. Fish Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday.

My buddy was up for a brief period on Sunday and said they did decent, so I'm hoping to at least land a couple.

I'll post some photos when I get home.