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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Fishing Forum :: Brule Lake - Fishing
 
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SweetBerryWine
06/07/2018 09:23AM
 
bgavin24,


I recently was in the area and slayed walleye on Brule. There was a terrible campsite just west of the portages into the Cones that produced plenty of Walleye. We cleaned up the site and made some major improvements to the seating area and the fire grate.


I would highly recommend leeches and slip bobbers. Such a versatile rig. Walleye bite seemed to turn on around 8PM. I spent two weeks in the BWCA, and would recommend fishing wind blown structures, shorelines, and calm spots just off of moving water. The walleye were in less than 10' of water, and the bite was soft. Let them fully take the bobber under (don't hook set too early).


We brought Minnows and Leeches and found that Leeches were far superior. Also, when locating fish, fish areas/structure that the wind has been blowing on recently. For three days in a row the wind had been coming out of the east on one of the lakes we base camped on. On the third day the wind changes 180 degrees around 3PM. We fished spots that had produced fish, but changed our tactics when we were catching nothing. Sure enough, the walleye had moved into new locations that favored the new wind direction.


Best of luck on your trip!
 
bgavin24
06/13/2018 09:15AM
 
Sweetberrywine,


I just missed your message before we got to the entry point. We saw very similar results that you spoke of. There was a very large bug hatch when we were there. When it was calm all you could hear was buzzing. The bugs seemed to be very concentrated around brule island and the surrounding area. We were able to catch smallmouth endlessly. Most were in the shallow bays and caught with slip bobbers and leeches/minnows. The first two days we fished around brule island and then wind swept points in the area which resulted in only one walleye. So saturday we headed to up the the cones and then to jock mock bay. It was quite a bit more windy on saturday so we fished the main point in mock jock bay and then the smaller secondary points along the inside of the bay. We were finally able to find active walleyes. It was about 50/50 between jigging and a slip bobber with a leech. They were biting very light. The ones caught jigging, would grab the jig/minnow and just sit on it. Slip bobbers and leeches in 7-10 feet seemed to work the best. I cut open all of the stomachs of the walleyes we kept, they were jammed full of bugs and larva. I am sure that the hatch slowed down the fishing.
Good luck to anyone heading up there soon. The fishing should be great once the hatch clears out.

 
barehook
06/13/2018 10:45AM
 
bgavin24: "Sweetberrywine,



I just missed your message before we got to the entry point. We saw very similar results that you spoke of. There was a very large bug hatch when we were there. When it was calm all you could hear was buzzing. The bugs seemed to be very concentrated around brule island and the surrounding area. We were able to catch smallmouth endlessly. Most were in the shallow bays and caught with slip bobbers and leeches/minnows. The first two days we fished around brule island and then wind swept points in the area which resulted in only one walleye. So saturday we headed to up the the cones and then to jock mock bay. It was quite a bit more windy on saturday so we fished the main point in mock jock bay and then the smaller secondary points along the inside of the bay. We were finally able to find active walleyes. It was about 50/50 between jigging and a slip bobber with a leech. They were biting very light. The ones caught jigging, would grab the jig/minnow and just sit on it. Slip bobbers and leeches in 7-10 feet seemed to work the best. I cut open all of the stomachs of the walleyes we kept, they were jammed full of bugs and larva. I am sure that the hatch slowed down the fishing.
Good luck to anyone heading up there soon. The fishing should be great once the hatch clears out.
"



When you say you were jigging, did you include a plastic body on the jig, or was it a leech on a bare jig head/hook? I've had success with the latter, setting the hook immediately at any sign of a hit, light or not. I'd be interested in your experience and technique. Thanks.
 
bgavin24
06/13/2018 11:05AM
 
I the first few days the wind was light enough we could drift shorelines at a decent pace. For that we were either dragging 1/8oz or 3/16oz jigs with a BfishNtackle plastic or a leech and occasionally lifting it off the bottom or casting and jigging it back. On saturday the wind was blowing way too hard to drift so we anchored on the front side of the points so we were casting up onto the wind blown section of the point. The ones we caught jigging seemed very lethargic, there was no big thump and run. It was barely a tap and just sit there. My cadence was to cast it out, let it go to the bottom, lift my rod tip slowly a foot or 2, let it sink again, and repeat that. When I went to lift for the next jigging stroke you could tell you were snagged or a fish was on. I tried snap jigging it more aggressively and that produced nothing. My buddy in the other canoe got a few on vertically jigging right below the canoe. He was using 1/8oz with a leech, dropping it to bottom, and lifting it up off the bottom about every 20-30 seconds.
 
Me2012
06/04/2018 10:57PM
 
You will do well. Heading there the last week of June for fishing.

 
nofish
06/05/2018 12:36PM
 
I've had luck around Brule Island in early June. My last trip there ended up being during a big bug hatch that made fishing VERY tough. Had the timing not been bad I'm confident we would have done pretty well with our strategy. Even with the hatch we still managed a few nice fish.



 
bgavin24
06/05/2018 01:14PM
 
Hoping for no bug hatch, fingers crossed. So far the plan is to fish Brule island and the rock point the the North West of the island. "NoFish", what areas/techniques worked well for you in early june?
I will post how we do when we get back.
 
nofish
06/05/2018 03:41PM
 
We didn't nail down any one thing that worked the best the last time out. Caught fish on everything from a slip bobber and leech to a large 5 of diamond spoon. But with the hatch it was one here, one there type of thing with no consistency.


There is a saddle between the east side of the island and the point/island coming off the mainland. I think maps show it as an island to the east of Brule Island but aerial images show it as connected to the mainland. We fished both side of that including on top. Fish seemed to hang out in the deeper water off that saddle the last time I was up there and I assume you'll still find some in that area.
 
bgavin24
06/05/2018 04:09PM
 
I know the saddle you are talking about. From an aerial image the saddle looks like a great walleye spot. In the past i have fished the top side of it, only catching a few smallies. We will try fishing off the edge. Thanks for the tips

 
nofish
06/06/2018 08:37AM
 
Our biggest fish of the trip came off the main lake side of the saddle, a low 20's walleye.
 
bgavin24
06/04/2018 03:27PM
 
Heading up to Brule Lake at the end of this week with some buddies. We plan on setting up basecamp and venturing out to fish from there. Looking for some tips on spots for early summer walleyes. Is our best option to stay in the Eastern side of the lake? We plan on bringing leeches and minnows, we will have a depth finder also. Reading old posts, it seems like people do well in "North Bay". Is that the bay near Echo Lake?
Any tips are appreciated! Thanks!
 
LightFish
06/04/2018 05:01PM
 
I had a terrible trip there last fall. We camped on one of the main island and fished the Northern/Southern and somewhat eastern area with no fish brought in. I had a fish finder and it only beeped 3 times the whole trip. We also noticed no bait fish or small pan fish. I saw only 2 crayfish as well. Other people coming back in when we did also reported poor fishing on Burle last fall. I would choose a different lake if there is still time. Burle is a huge! lake and finding fish will be difficult. The whole experience was very strange like it was lake Chernobyl. I wish you well. I was told one could find walleyes around the islands and smallies on the north side...The wind on that lake is bad and makes fishing difficult too. I would pick a different place to go if you still can. Sry but all this is because of last fall trip and maybe things will be better for you now that's it springs. I would pick a different lake just because of how huge Burle is for canoe fishing if nothing else. If you go get the maps from DNR for sure. Best of Luck and Prove me wrong if you go!
 
bgavin24
06/04/2018 05:15PM
 
This will be our 3rd time on Brule, but will be the earliest. In the past we have done very well on walleyes and smallies around Brule island.
Just seeing if anyone had some tips for early june.