The Brule River has a rich history
of being one of Wisconsin's most beautiful river destinations
and a favorite fishing spot for presidents of the past.
- Presidents started coming here to trout fish.
Ulysses S. Grant, President Calvin Coolidge
came here quite often.
Hoover and Eisenhower came.
There were several presidents that came here
back in the early 1900s, mostly.
It was pretty famous for its trout fishing.
It's still.
A lot of people like to come here to trout fish
'cause it's such a beautiful stream
with a lot of good forest around it.
And it hasn't changed all that much
in the last hundred years.
- But with that beauty comes some pretty wild rapids.
- It's got a lot of variety of paddling.
The upper river's pretty easy.
Lower river's got some rapids for people
that want a little more excitement.
- This section's about four hours.
It goes down the south end of the river,
the Brule River starting at Winneboujou
and will end at the DNR campground.
- On the end of the easy section, it is a little faster.
We have a number of small rapids to go through.
They're fun.
Generally easy in the low water levels that we have.
The biggest one, right before the campground, called "Little Joe."
That one will be pretty exciting,
even in low water.
We expect to go through there without any difficulty.
[splash]
- Perfect.
I understand we're going to have some special guests
with us on the tour. - Yes, yeah.
My sons, 10 and 12, Avery and Jaden,
will accompany us in kayaks.
They've been down probably more than a dozen times.
I introduced them to kayaking and they love it.
- They're pros that can help me out
is what you're telling me.
[laughing] - Yeah, yup. - Perfect.
Anyone can follow the path of presidents
if they manage to stay dry.
[gentle instrumental]
- Angela: No, no fish.
[rushing rapids]
[splash, splash] - Boy: That's fun!
[gurgling water]
- Boy: Ah, shoot!