Brule Opener vid 2012

Bois Brule Opener 2012

     Opener was very weird.  No snow on the ground, warm water and air temperatures and got my pick of holes to fish even though I showed up at  11am.  People seemingly didn't stick around long.  After talking to a couple of guys they said fishing was slow.   Despite some unusual factors the water was great.  The flow was about 160 cfs  and just enough color to camouflage your presentation.  I managed to land 8 steelhead runnin the two fly rig.  4 on pink globug tied by Jeff at jeffsjigs.com and 4 on my stoneflies as the point fly of 2 fly rig.  The fish did run smaller then the usual opening day fishing.   Not sure what the potential reasons for smaller fish size but probably coincidental.

Sotahex

     The Sotahex, my variation of the hex nymph that imitates the Hexagenia mayfly.  This fly is very abundant in many Great Lakes rivers including Bois Brule river.  I have used other imitations like the spring's wiggler with good success to imitate the Hexagenia but I have high hopes for this more ornate imitation to be at least as productive.  This is a one hook variation of the wiggle hex I saw in Matt Supinski's book Steelhead Dreams.
  

hook- saber #6
thread - 6/0 yellow
ribbing - copper wire
gills - filoplume from from hen hackle after feather or ostrich herl
dubbing- caddis yellow
tail - three pheasant tail fibers
wingcase - pheasant tail fibers
legs - darker hen soft hackle feather

      

Monsters of the Brule

These are pics of some big fish caught by some friends of Sotafish.  Garrett Svir, Jeff Wenger of jeffsjigs.com and Tony Stifter.  This will eventually grow to five pictures of some of the biggest fish caught on the Brule.  Do you have a pic worthy.   Send me a pic at sotafish@hotmail.com.

Good Brule Morning

I managed to catch three steelhead on a bright sunny morning.   With the sun so bright and the flow at about 130 cfs I wasn't expecting to catch multiple fish.  I was preparing to be very happy with one fish with the flow so low.   Sometimes steelhead don't do what you expect.

Chrome with Attitude

Entomology

      It helps to know a little entomology when trying to decide what fly to use to catch Steelhead. Entomology is the study of aquatic insects. The life cycle and identification of these insects are the most important factors of entomology as it relates to fishing and tying flies to imitate them.  There are four stages of importance during the insect life cycle. They are larval stage (nymphs), emergent stage (emergers), Adult stage (dries), mortality stage (spinners).  Aquatic insect spends most of its life in the larval stage so most of my flies I tie are nymphs.  Dry flies (adult) are also popular flies to tie.  Many people believe catching a steelhead or trout on a dry fly is the most exciting.   I can't disagree. This is where identification of adult hatching flies is helpful. Matching the hatch. The better you know the adult insects flying around on your local river the more success you will have.  Using a seine to collect nymphs or just looking under rocks will also reveal the larval aquatic insects that inhabit your river.  So do a little research and identify the insects that inhabit your river.  Some important insects in Great lakes rivers are Hexagenia, Brown drake, Blue winged olive mayflies, caddis, stoneflies.
      Weather and water clarity are also important factors in deciding what fly to use. If it is sunny outside I tend to use flies with some sparkle. Materials like krystal flash and ice dubbing are examples of materials with sparkle.  Some believe that sparkle imitates air bubbles which makes a fly look life like. Which in turn will trigger fish into biting. Water clarity is also important. The more turbid (cloudy) the water is I tend to use flies larger and more colorful so the fish can see the fly.