Lake-run brown trout Run in Wisconsin

Salmo trutta, coaster brown, on Superior — 13 Wisconsin rivers on this map carry a run of it, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. 13 of them are inside a window as of 1 October 2026.

Wisconsin carries Salmo trutta out of two lakes on 13 rivers, and the two shores keep different calendars. The Lake Superior rivers hold the earlier window, September through November, and the Lake Michigan rivers open in October and close in November; both peak in October. Those windows are month-grained, which is as fine as the guidance goes. The Superior side also holds the long corridors — 70.2 miles on the Nemadji, 42.6 on the Amnicon, 40.4 on the Bois Brule — against 40.7 on the Sheboygan and 29.8 on the Milwaukee.

The fish is buttery-flanked with black and red spots and no spotting on the tail worth the name, which is the mark that separates it from everything else in the run at the net. Three to fifteen pounds. It runs with the autumn steelhead and behind the salmon, is the most nocturnal fish in the corridor, and many hold over into February and March. On Superior it is called a coaster brown.

Where these rivers are

13 run rivers on 2 shores, drawn one shore at a time and each river in the colour of its own run stage today. One frame over all of them would be mostly open water.

Lake Superior — the Wisconsin shore7 run rivers on this shore, 7 inside a window today Peak run

Lake Michigan — the Wisconsin shore6 run rivers on this shore, 6 inside a window today Peak run

Drawn 1 October 2026. The ground is the subbasin mesh the app scores in, so the coastline is where the mesh stops rather than a separate shoreline; the mark at each river is its mouth, drawn for every river including the handful whose whole run corridor is under a mile and has no line to show.

Where it runs, and when

Ranked by the rivers the staging estimator models first — the sixteen systems with a USGS temperature gauge behind them — then by corridor miles. Neither is a measure of fishing, and nothing on this page ranks a fishery.

River	Lake	Window	Peak	Miles	Stage
Nemadji River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	70.2	First runners
Amnicon River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	42.6	First runners
Sheboygan River	Michigan	Oct–Nov	Oct	40.7	Staging
Bois Brule River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	40.4	First runners
East Twin River	Michigan	Oct–Nov	Oct	40.4	Staging
Milwaukee River	Michigan	Oct–Nov	Oct	29.8	Staging
Kewaunee River	Michigan	Oct–Nov	Oct	26.1	Staging
Iron River (Bayfield County)	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	23.0	First runners
Sioux River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	15.3	First runners
Oconto River	Michigan	Oct–Nov	Oct	14.0	Staging
Flag River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	13.0	First runners
Peshtigo River	Michigan	Oct–Nov	Oct	9.4	Staging
Cranberry River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	8.8	First runners

Stage as of 1 October 2026. It moves every day and this page does not — current conditions are here.

Identification

Buttery flanks with black and red spots, and no spotting on the tail worth the name — the mark that separates it from everything else in the run at the net.

Size

Three to fifteen pounds.

Behaviour in the river

Runs with the autumn steelhead and behind the salmon, and is the most nocturnal fish in the corridor. Many hold over into February and March.

Tackle and tactics

Spinning: a medium 7'–8' rod, 8–12 lb line, minnow plugs and spoons fished at dusk and after dark, which is when these fish move.
Fly: 7–8 weight, large articulated streamers on a sink tip, 10–12 lb tippet.

Regulations

Great Lakes tributary rules are not the inland trout rules, and they differ by river and often by reach. Wisconsin's regulation summary is here; the state's own guide is the regulation.

The rest of the run

Open the lake-run map →Every run river, with where the fish are holding today.Or get BirdTrout on the App Store