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Iron River Light and Power Co Dam, Wisconsin
Iron River Light and Power Co Dam is the top of the Iron River (Bayfield County) run — 4 anadromous species stack below it out of Lake Superior.
Open in BirdTrout46.566315, -91.424034 · Bayfield County · NID WI00033. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.
What the runs do here
Iron River Light and Power Co Dam is the anadromous ceiling for the Iron River (Bayfield County) — the top of the run out of Lake Superior. Fish moving up from the lake stop here, which is 23.0 miles of river below this structure.
| Species | In the river | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Steelhead | Sept–May | What this coast is fished for. A fall push from September into November and the spring run, peaking April into early May as the ice goes out. |
| Coho salmon | Sept–Oct | Thin beside the steelhead and worth knowing about; peak late September. |
| Lake-run brown trout | Sept–Nov | Runs with the autumn steelhead; peak October. |
| Lake-run brook trout | Sept–Oct | Coasters, running the stream mouths in early autumn. Superior's own fish and heavily restricted — check the WDNR regulations before keeping one. |
Curated calendar guidance from state run-timing prose, not regulation and not an observation of this river on any day. WDNR Great Lakes tributary run-timing guidance and stocking record, curated.
Ceiling cited as: OpenStreetMap node 353897666, Iron River Light and Power Company WP182 Dam
The structure
- Owner
- Town Of Iron River Local Government
- Purpose
- Recreation
- Completed
- 1870 · modified 1923O
- Type
- Earth
- Height
- 29 ft
- Length
- 400 ft
- Spillway
- Controlled
- Storage
- 1,891 acre-ft · 76 acre pool
- Drainage
- 8 sq mi
- Condition
- Satisfactory · Significant hazard potential
From the National Inventory of Dams (USACE). Hazard potential is a downstream-consequence classification, not a statement about the structure's condition.
The water above and below
- Iron River 0.0 mi from the dam · Class II · wild supplemented (WDNR) · typed Cold
Coldwater designation is the state's own classification. A dam sits on one river and this list is every designated reach within a mile and a half of it, so a tributary mouth shows up here too.
Water right now
| Gauge | Distance | Temp | Flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bois Brule River near Lake Superior, WI | 12.8 mi | 54.8 °F | — |
| Bois Brule River near Lake Superior | 12.8 mi | 54.8 °F | — |
Live from USGS. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away — the distance column is there so you can discount it. A hydro dam's releases move the flow below it on a schedule the gauge sees and this page does not. 2 of the gauges above are not sending water temperature at all — a stopped gauge still answers with the last value it ever sent and nothing to say so, so those rows carry a modelled figure where one can be fitted, marked as modelled, and a dash where it cannot.
Getting to it
- Iron River Millpond Carry-In 0.2 mi · canoe launch · Iron River Millpond
- Moon Lake Access 1.2 mi · boat launch · Moon Lake
- Half Moon Lake Access 1.5 mi · boat launch · Half Moon Lake
- Fire Lake Access 1.9 mi · boat launch · Fire Lake
- Jackman Lake Access 2.8 mi · boat launch · Jackman Lake
- Buskey Bay Access 3.4 mi · boat launch · Millicent Lake
Public access sites near the dam, straight-line distance. A dam itself is private property unless its owner says otherwise; these are the places the state lists as open.
Fly shops nearby
- River Rock Bait Shop 25.0 mi
- Anglers All 27.5 mi · Ashland
- The Bait Shack 27.8 mi
- The Bait Box 29.8 mi
- Southside Bait & Tackle 33.1 mi