Wisconsin Fly Fishing for Trout

Wisconsin is blessed with over 13,000 miles of beautiful trout streams, which makes it a great destination for fly fishing trout. Many of Wisconsin's trout streams have prolific mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly hatches that create great opportunities for fly fishing for brook, rainbow, and brown trout throughout Wisconsin's inland trout season. The state also offers a variety of different stream types for fly fishing trout, from the spring creeks of the driftless area in Southwest Wisconsin to the freestone rivers of central and northern Wisconsin and the Great Lake tributaries for steelhead and salmon fishing.

Although much of the content on this website is about fly fishing for trout in Northern Wisconsin, most of the information also applies to all of Wisconsin's trout streams. A new section to the website for 2023 is dedicated to helping fly fishermen and others understand the importance of biomonitoring the health of our coldwater trout streams, see: Measuring the Health of a Trout Stream using the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index. See also my recent mayfly article: Are Mayflies Declining?

Besides a wealth of information on the aquatic insect hatches, there is also a page listing Wisconsin fly shops, and Wisconsin fly fishing guides, with links to their websites for more detailed information about local trout streams, hatches, fly fishing equipment, and other services. Also, there is a page dedicated to the Wild Rivers Chapter of Wisconsin TU which gives information about the chapter and upcoming events.

In September, on many of the northern Wisconsin woodland trout streams is the time for the Great Brown Autumn Sedge (Pycnopsyche) hatch. Be sure to carry a few October caddis soft hackle patterns in your fly boxes.

Northern Wisconsin Fly Fishing for Trout

The freestone trout streams of northern Wisconsin offer many fly fishing opportunities to catch wild brown, brook, and rainbow trout while immersed in beautiful forest scenery. There is something truly special about wading in the tea-colored northern Wisconsin trout streams surrounded by tall majestic pines, and deep blue skies and watching deer, eagles, and other forest creatures in their natural setting.

Northern Wisconsin Mayfly Hatches

Northern Wisconsin freestone trout streams, such as the Bois Brule River, White and Namekagon Rivers have an abundance of mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, and other aquatic insects that hatch throughout the Wisconsin trout fishing season. If you are not familiar with the various mayfly species that hatch on Wisconsin trout streams see the Wisconsin Mayfly Hatch Chart. For caddisfly hatches see: Lifecycle of Caddisflies and Overview of Caddisflies of Wisconsin.