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Rainbow trout in Wisconsin
Oncorhynchus mykiss — introduced to Wisconsin, holding water between 55 and 65°F. Wisconsin publishes no per-species records, so the 20 waters below are this site's selection from the state's own classified trout water.
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The rainbow is the least widely reproducing of Wisconsin's three stream trout: introduced, stocked broadly, wild across a smaller share of the classified footprint than either the brown or the native brook trout. Eight to sixteen inches, holding 55 to 65°F and tolerating 75, and happiest in the faster water rather than under a bank.
Wisconsin publishes no species column at all — WDNR's classification says how much of a stream reproduces naturally and stops there — so the twenty waters on this page are classified water in the drainage band a rainbow occupies, chosen here rather than recorded by the state. Nothing on this page says a rainbow has been caught in any of them. The limits are the same: a bag and a season by category, with an early season on much of the water where every trout goes back.
- 55–65°FWater, preferred
- 8–16"Typical length
- IntroducedIn Wisconsin
- 20Waters listed here
What it is
Salmonidae — Pacific trout, genus Oncorhynchus · Oncorhynchus mykiss
- A pink to magenta band down the lateral line, brightest on a fish in spawning condition and faint on a fresh-run lake fish.
- Heavy black spotting scattered over the back, the dorsal fin and — the mark that separates it — the whole of the tail, in rows that radiate outward.
- Silver-olive ground colour, white belly, no red spots and no vermiculations.
- Tail squared and clearly spotted.
Typical length in Wisconsin is 8 to 16 inches. That is a curated range for water of this kind, not an average of any survey: MDNR's abundance file counts fish per acre and per mile and records no lengths at all, and no other state on this site publishes lengths either.
Native or stocked
Introduced, and the least widely reproducing of Wisconsin's three stream trout: stocked broadly, wild in a smaller share of the classified water than brown or brook.
Where to find it in Wisconsin
Wisconsin does not publish which species each segment holds. WDNR classifies trout water I, II and III by how much of it reproduces naturally, and by nothing else. So this is not a list of waters this fish has been recorded from, and it is not presented as one: it is the state's own classified water, filtered to the drainage size this species occupies and ranked with the wildest class first. Treat it as where to start looking.
| Water | Watershed | Classified miles | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plover River | Castle Rock and central sands | 37.8 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Otter Creek | Peshtigo River | 35.3 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Willow Creek | Wolf River | 34.3 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| North Branch Embarrass River | Wolf River | 33.9 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Little Popple River | Menominee River | 33.1 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| South Branch Pemebonwon River | Menominee River | 32.8 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| West Branch Red River | Wolf River | 30.0 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Wausaukee River | Menominee River | 29.7 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Mill Creek | Lower Wisconsin River | 29.5 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Pine River | Wolf River | 29.2 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Balsam Creek | Nemadji and Lake Superior shore | 28.7 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Mecan River | Upper Fox and Wolf headwaters | 28.6 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Spring Brook | Lake Dubay and Big Eau Pleine | 28.5 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Big Roche a Cri Creek | Castle Rock and central sands | 28.4 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Elk Creek | Lower Chippewa River | 28.2 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Comet Creek | Wolf River | 27.3 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| South Branch Pike River | Menominee River | 27.3 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| South Branch Embarrass River | Wolf River | 26.5 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| Trade River | St. Croix and Namekagon | 26.5 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
| West Fork Kickapoo River | Kickapoo River (Driftless) | 25.6 | Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking |
Wisconsin's classified trout water, whole
The inventory the list above was drawn from, by the state's own class.
| Class | Named waters | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| Class I — self-sustaining, no stocking | 844 | 6542 |
| Class II — some natural reproduction, stocked to maintain | 647 | 4540 |
| Class III — no natural reproduction, stocking carries it | 126 | 658 |
Where that is on the map
Every subwatershed this site covers in Wisconsin as a faint dot, and the ones holding the waters listed above lit. A coverage map with this species on it — the map on the front of the site is the map.
When to fish for it
Rainbow trout hold 55–65°F water and are under real stress above 75°F. On this map's own colours that band is cold, cold-transitional, cool water, which is what the river pages and the live map are painting when they run green and blue. The season follows the temperature rather than the calendar: the water is in the band early and late in the day through the summer, and all day either side of it.
Spawning: Spring — March into May — on gravel, which is what separates it from the two autumn spawners above.
What is hatching in Wisconsin, month by month, from the same seed the app's hatch panel reasons from. These are the state's recorded hatches, not this species' — trout eat what is in the water.
| Month | Peaking |
|---|---|
| January | Aquatic Worm, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Fish Eggs, Hellgrammite, Leech and 6 more |
| February | Aquatic Worm, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Leech, Little Black Stonefly and 6 more |
| March | Aquatic Worm, Blue-Winged Olive, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Leech and 7 more |
| April | Aquatic Worm, Blackfly, Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Cranefly, Damselfly and 15 more |
| May | Alderfly, Aquatic Worm, Blackfly, Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Caterpillar and 23 more |
| June | Alderfly, Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Blackfly, Brown Drake, Caterpillar and 31 more |
| July | Annual Cicada, Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Caterpillar, Crayfish, Cream Cahill and 30 more |
| August | Annual Cicada, Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Caterpillar, Cinnamon Flying Ant, Crayfish and 25 more |
| September | Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Blue-Winged Olive, Caterpillar, Cinnamon Flying Ant, Cranefly and 22 more |
| October | Aquatic Worm, Blue-Winged Olive, Cranefly, Crayfish, Cricket, Damselfly and 13 more |
| November | Aquatic Worm, Blue-Winged Olive, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Fish Eggs, Hellgrammite and 7 more |
| December | Aquatic Worm, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Fish Eggs, Hellgrammite, Leech and 5 more |
How to catch it
Faster, broken, oxygenated water: riffles, runs and pocket water, more often in the current than under the bank.
Patterns from this site's book, chosen by the insects recorded from Wisconsin's own regions and filtered to the kinds worth putting in front of this fish. Each one has its tying recipe.
- Hare's Ear Nymph nymph · #10–18 — Alderfly, Black Ant, Cream Cahill
- Pheasant Tail Nymph nymph · #12–22 — Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Damselfly
- Parachute Adams dry fly · #12–20 — Blue Quill, Brown Drake, Blue-Winged Olive
- Elk Hair Caddis dry fly · #12–20 — Grannom, Green Sedge, Little Black Caddis
- Foam Beetle terrestrial · #12–18 — Black Ant, Cricket, Grasshopper
- Prince Nymph nymph · #10–18 — Green Sedge, Isonychia / Slate Drake, Little Black Stonefly
- Rusty Spinner dry fly · #14–20 — Cream Cahill, Isonychia / Slate Drake, Light Cahill
- Chubby Chernobyl dry fly · #8–14 — Annual Cicada, Giant Black Stonefly (Salmonfly), Golden Stonefly
- RS2 emerger · #16–24 — Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Midge
- Griffith's Gnat dry fly · #18–24 — Blackfly, Midge, Cinnamon Flying Ant
- LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa emerger · #12–18 — Grannom, Green Sedge, Little Sister Caddis
- Partridge & Orange Soft Hackle wet fly · #12–18 — Alderfly, Little Black Caddis, Little Sister Caddis
Rules for rainbow trout in Wisconsin
Wisconsin does not publish its limits split by species: the bag and the season apply to trout as a group, by the class or category the water carries. So what follows is that, and not a rainbow trout rule dressed up as one. Snapshot taken 2026-08-16.
| Category | Bag | Season | Waters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Trout in Total of Any Length | 5 trout in total of any length. | First Saturday in April at 5:00 a.m. to Oct. 15. | 1614 |
| 5 Trout in Total of Any Length | 5 trout in total of any length. | First Saturday in April at 5:00 a.m. to Oct. 15. | 1126 |
| 3 Trout in Total Over 8 inches | 3 trout in total over 8". | First Saturday in April at 5:00 a.m. to Oct. 15. | 69 |
| Length, Bag and Possession Limits Vary by Water | 5 trout in total; only one may be greater than 12" | First Saturday in April at 5:00 a.m. to Oct. 15. | 64 |
| Length, Bag and Possession Limits Vary by Water | 3 in total: brown and rainbow trout over 12", brook trout over 8". | First Saturday in April at 5:00 a.m. to Oct. 15. | 13 |
| Length, Bag and Possession Limits Vary by Water | All trout caught shall be immediately released. | First Saturday in April at 5:00 a.m. to Oct. 15. | 9 |
The full Wisconsin regulation page →
Habitat notes
Faster, broken, oxygenated water: riffles, runs and pocket water, more often in the current than under the bank.
- 55–65°F preferred
- 75°F upper limit
- cold, cold-transitional, cool on this map's colours
The four thermal classes named there are the ones every river on this site is painted with, at breaks of 58, 64 and 70°F. A river page showing cold water is showing water inside this fish's band; that is the whole point of the colour.
The other trout in Wisconsin
- Brook trout in Wisconsin Salvelinus fontinalis
- Brown trout in Wisconsin Salmo trutta
- Lake trout in Wisconsin Salvelinus namaycush
Rainbow trout in the other states
The same fish, on different water and under different rules. Michigan's sand-bottomed rivers, Wisconsin's driftless springs, Minnesota's North Shore, Virginia's mountain brook water and North Carolina's tailwaters and freestone gradient are five fisheries, and the limits differ with them.
Open the trout map →Every trout stream near you, coloured by today's water temperature.