Steelhead Run in Wisconsin

Oncorhynchus mykiss, lake-run rainbow trout — 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.

Steelhead, *Oncorhynchus mykiss*, the lake-run rainbow trout, run 13 Wisconsin rivers split between two lakes, and the split is the thing to know: the Lake Superior rivers carry a Sept–May window peaking April into May, while the Lake Michigan rivers run Oct–May and peak March into April. The windows are month-grained. The longest corridors are Superior's — the Nemadji at 70.2 miles and the Amnicon at 42.6 — then the Sheboygan at 40.7 on Lake Michigan, the Bois Brule at 40.4 and the East Twin at 40.4, the Milwaukee at 29.8, the Kewaunee at 26.1, the Iron River in Bayfield County at 23.0, the Sioux at 15.3 and the Oconto at 14.0.

A chrome rainbow off the lake, the stripe faint on a fresh fish and loud on one that has wintered in the river. Five to twelve pounds. Two runs on one calendar: a fall push that winters in the river and a spring run onto the gravel.

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–May	Apr–May	70.2	First runners
Amnicon River	Superior	Sept–May	Apr–May	42.6	First runners
Sheboygan River	Michigan	Oct–May	Mar–Apr	40.7	Staging
Bois Brule River	Superior	Sept–May	Apr–May	40.4	First runners
East Twin River	Michigan	Oct–May	Mar–Apr	40.4	Staging
Milwaukee River	Michigan	Oct–May	Mar–Apr	29.8	Staging
Kewaunee River	Michigan	Oct–May	Mar–Apr	26.1	Staging
Iron River (Bayfield County)	Superior	Sept–May	Apr–May	23.0	First runners
Sioux River	Superior	Sept–May	Apr–May	15.3	First runners
Oconto River	Michigan	Oct–May	Mar–Apr	14.0	Staging
Flag River	Superior	Sept–May	Apr–May	13.0	First runners
Peshtigo River	Michigan	Oct–May	Mar–Apr	9.4	Staging
Cranberry River	Superior	Sept–May	Apr–May	8.8	First runners

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

Identification

A chrome rainbow off the lake, the stripe faint on a fresh fish and loud on one that has wintered in the river.

Size

Five to twelve pounds, and bigger on the Manistee-type rivers.

Behaviour in the river

Two runs on one calendar: a fall push that winters in the river and a spring run onto the gravel. The fall fish are the reason a January river is not empty.

Tackle and tactics

Float fishing: a long 10'6"–13' rod, 8–12 lb main line, spawn bags, beads or jigs under a slip float — the method that covers a run without wading it.
Fly: 7–8 weight single-hand or a switch rod, egg and nymph patterns on a dead drift, swung streamers in the fall push. 6–10 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