BirdTrout

Wolf River Watershed, Wisconsin

2,583 miles of mapped stream across 3,726 square miles of drainage in Shawano, Waupaca, Langlade, Outagamie, Menominee, Waushara, Portage, Forest counties, in 156 named streams. Wisconsin designates 1,256 of those miles as trout water, on 140 streams. The 1 mainstem gauge with a July record read 68.8°F in July.

Open in BirdTrout
Map key
Public land — where the bank is open to walk and fish
USGS gauge — live water temperature
Water temperature — the colour of every stream in the basin

50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands the app paints. On this map the colour is Wisconsin DNR's own classification of the stream, not a measurement, except at the gauge dots, which read live. Grey is water Wisconsin DNR has not typed.

The watershed in numbers

HUC8 04030202 in the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset. Every figure below adds up the river pages in this basin — same records, one basin at a time.

2,583 mi
of mapped stream
4,369 NHD reaches
3,726 sq mi
drainage area
2,384,586 acres
68.8°F
July water temperature at the gauges
1 mainstem gauge, mean 68.8°F
118,672 ac
public land
5.0% of the basin · 35 units

Cold, cool and warm water

WDNR's trout stream classification, which types the stream by the trout population it supports rather than by measuring the water — every reach it calls Class I, II or III carries WDNR's own cold designation. It covers 56% of this basin's stream miles (1442.4 of 2,583); the rest is untyped and is drawn grey on the map above.

1442.4 of the 1442.4 typed miles in this basin — 100% — are cold or cold-transitional water. Every typed reach carries the same class, which is as likely to be the coverage as the water: Wisconsin DNR has typed 56% of it.

What makes this watershed distinctive

The Wolf is the biggest trout basin in Wisconsin on every count this page keeps: 3,726 square miles, 1,612 mapped stream miles, 156 named streams, 140 of them designated over 1,256 miles, and 1,513 miles classified cold — more designated trout water than any other basin on this site outside the Michigan and North Carolina mountains. The Wolf River runs 123.5 miles at Class II; the Middle Branch Embarrass 57.6 miles and the South Branch 41.2 both carry Class I and II, the Little Wolf 51.0 miles the same, the Red River 48.7 at Class II and III and the Pine 38.4 at Class I and II. Public ground is 118,672 acres — modest for the size — with 44,994 acres of Langlade County Forest and 33,516 of Nicolet National Forest. No gauge here holds a July record.

Every named stream in the basin

All 156 of them, longest first. 111 have a page of their own and are linked; the rest are in the app. The class column is Wisconsin DNR's designation of that stream. "Now" is the live USGS reading where a gauge stands in that stream.

Stream Miles Class Now Designation
Wolf River 123.5 Cold — Class II
Middle Branch Embarrass River 57.6 Cold — Class I, Class II
Little Wolf River 51.0 Cold — Class I, Class II
Red River 48.7 Cold — Class II, Class III
South Branch Embarrass River 41.2 Cold — Class I, Class II
Pine River 38.4 Cold — Class I, Class II
Willow Creek 37.7 Cold — Class I, Class II
North Branch Embarrass River 34.8 Cold — Class I, Class II, Class III
South Branch Little Wolf River 34.2 Cold — Class I, Class II
Waupaca River 32.6 Cold — Class I, Class II
West Branch Wolf River 30.7 Cold — Class I, Class II
West Branch Red River 30.0 Cold — Class I, Class II
Embarrass River 29.1 Cold — Class I
Comet Creek 27.3 Cold — Class I
Little West Branch Creek 26.0 Cold — Class I, Class II
Flume Creek 24.3 Cold — Class I, Class II
Swamp Creek 24.1 Cold — Class II
South Branch Pigeon River 24.0 Cold — Class I, Class II
Tomorrow River 24.0 Cold — Class I, Class II
Mill Creek 22.7 Cold — Class I, Class II
Evergreen River 22.3 Cold — Class I
Mud Creek 20.2 untyped — —
Hunting River 20.0 Cold — Class I
Walla Walla Creek 19.7 Cold — Class II
North Branch Little Wolf River 18.1 Cold — Class II
Little West Branch Wolf River 18.0 Cold — Class I
Whitcomb Creek 17.1 Cold — Class I
Miller Creek 16.9 Cold — Class I
Lily River 16.7 Cold — Class II
North Branch Pigeon River 16.7 Cold — Class I, Class II
Spranger Creek 15.8 Cold — Class I
West Branch Shioc River 15.1 Cold — Class I, Class II
Packard Creek 14.6 Cold — Class I
Ninemile Creek 14.3 Cold — Class II
Crystal River 13.9 Cold — Class II
Radley Creek 13.6 Cold — Class I
Blake Creek 13.2 Cold — Class II
Elton Creek 13.0 Cold — Class I
Silver Creek 12.4 Cold — Class I
Spring Creek 12.3 Cold — Class I
Tiger Creek 12.2 Cold — Class I
Peterson Creek 10.3 Cold — Class I
Pickerel Creek 10.1 untyped — —
Norrie Brook 9.5 Cold — Class I
Spaulding Creek 9.1 Cold — Class I
Elmhurst Creek 8.7 Cold — Class I, Class II
Hydes Creek 8.7 Cold — Class I, Class II
East Branch Lily River 8.6 Cold — Class II
Kroenke Creek 8.6 Cold — Class I, Class II
Holt Creek 8.6 Cold — Class I, Class II
Pony Creek 8.5 Cold — Class I
Nace Creek 8.5 Cold — Class I
Emmons Creek 8.2 Cold — Class I
Beaver Creek 8.1 Cold — Class I
Shaw Creek 8.0 untyped — —
Neopit Creek 7.9 Cold — Class I
Bear Creek 7.5 Cold — Class I, Class II
Dent Creek 7.4 Cold — Class I
Bradley Creek 7.4 Cold — Class I
Hatton Creek 7.4 untyped — —
Engibretson Creek 7.3 Cold — Class I
Logemanns Creek 7.2 untyped — Class I
Nichol Creek 7.0 untyped — —
Evergreen Creek 6.8 Cold — Class I
Bruce Creek 6.8 Cold — Class II
School Section Creek 6.3 untyped — —
South Fork Blake Creek 6.3 Cold — Class I, Class II
Deer Creek 6.2 Cold — Class II
Austin Creek 6.1 Cold — Class I, Class II
Little Silver Creek 6.1 Cold — Class I
Carpenter Creek 6.1 Cold — Class II
Dalles Creek 6.0 Cold — Class I
Rose Brook 6.0 Cold — Class I
Jackson Creek 5.9 Cold — Class I, Class II
Pedro Creek 5.6 Cold — Class II, Class III
Spider Creek 5.6 untyped — —
Wilson Creek 5.5 Cold — Class I
Railroad Creek 5.4 Cold — Class I
Mattoon Creek 5.3 Cold — Class I
Spencer Creek 5.2 Cold — Class I
McLean Creek 5.2 Cold — Class I
Strassburg Creek 5.1 Cold — Class I
Murry Creek 5.1 Cold — Class I
North Fork Blake Creek 5.0 Cold — Class II
Gold Creek 4.9 Cold — Class I
Menominee Creek 4.7 Cold — Class I
Outlet Creek 4.6 Cold — Class II
Tourtillotte Creek 4.6 Cold — Class I
Mayking Creek 4.5 Cold — Class II
Beetle Creek 4.5 Cold — Class I
Burnt Shanty Creek 4.4 Cold — Class I
Poncho Creek 4.4 Cold — Class I
Pollock Creek 4.3 Cold — Class II
Drew Creek 4.3 Cold — Class I
Simpson Creek 4.3 Cold — Class I
Slab City Creek 4.2 untyped — —
South Fork Whitcomb Creek 4.2 untyped — Class I
Klondike Creek 4.1 Cold — Class I
McCall Creek 4.0 Cold — Class I
Geskey Creek 4.0 Cold — Class II
Magdanz Creek 3.9 Cold — Class I, Class II
Cedar Springs Creek 3.9 Cold — Class I
Walczak Creek 3.7 Cold — Class I
Fish Creek 3.7 Cold — Class I
Hennig Creek 3.7 Cold — Class I
Allen Creek 3.7 Cold — Class I
Stockley Creek 3.6 untyped — —
Campbell Creek 3.6 Cold — Class II
Sipes Creek 3.6 Cold — Class I
Noseum Creek 3.6 Cold — Class I
McVay Brook 3.6 untyped — Class I
Steinke Creek 3.6 Cold — Class I
Hemlock Creek 3.5 Cold — Class II
White Lake Creek 3.5 Cold — Class II
Sannes Creek 3.5 Cold — Class I
Elma Creek 3.4 Cold — Class I
Cleveland Creek 3.4 Cold — Class II
Gliske Creek 3.3 Cold — Class I
Bog Brook 3.3 untyped — —
Mondl Creek 3.3 Cold — Class I
Gardner Creek 3.2 Cold — Class I
Leer Creek 3.0 Cold — Class I
Nigig Ziibins 2.9 untyped — —
Logan Creek 2.9 Cold — Class II
Griffin Creek 2.9 Cold — Class I
Oshkosh Creek 2.8 Cold — Class I
Camp Creek 2.7 Cold — Class II
Minnow Creek 2.7 Cold — Class I
Lazy Creek 2.6 Cold — Class II
North Branch Menominee Creek 2.6 Cold — Class I
Matteson Creek 2.5 untyped — —
Humphrey Creek 2.5 Cold — Class I
Davies Creek 2.4 Cold — Class I
Deadman Creek 2.3 Cold — Class I
Island Creek 2.3 Cold — Class I
Chickney Creek 2.3 Cold — Class I
Porters Creek 2.3 Cold — Class I
Basteen Creek 2.1 Cold — Class I
Wayka Creek 2.0 Cold — Class I
Kaminski Creek 2.0 Cold — Class I
Larsen Creek 1.9 Cold — Class II
Augustyn Creek 1.8 Cold — Class I
McGee Creek 1.6 Cold — Class I
Split Rock Creek 1.6 Cold — Class I
Rabe Creek 1.5 Cold — Class I
Pearl Creek 1.5 Cold — Class I
Pigeon River 1.3 untyped — —
Jones Creek 1.3 Cold — Class I
Garski Flowage 1.2 Cold — Class I
Lost Creek 1.0 untyped — —
Hartman Creek 1.0 Cold — Class II
Five Island Creek 0.7 Cold — Class II
Demster Creek 0.5 Cold — Class I
Ducknest Creek 0.4 Cold — Class II
Shung-we Creek 0.3 untyped — —
Shawano Lake Outlet 0.1 untyped — —

Public land in the watershed

118,672 acres in 35 units, which is 5.0% of the 2,384,586 acres the basin covers. Private inholdings carried in the same source file are excluded, here and on the map.

Managing agency Acres Share Units
County forest 49,992 42% 3
Wisconsin DNR 35,164 30% 31
US Forest Service 33,516 28% 1

The biggest named blocks of it, each with its own page — the streams on that ground, what is open to hunt on it, and where the access sites are.

Best time to fish

The hatch calendar for northern Wisconsin, which is the region this basin's centre falls in — the same regions the app's hatch panel uses. It is a regional record, not a survey of this watershed: nobody has counted insects basin by basin. Year-round records (midges, scuds, sculpins) are left out; they are true every month and they are not what a calendar is for.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

42 insects are recorded from northern Wisconsin. Each links to its own page, with the flies that imitate it.

Neighbouring watersheds

The subbasins that share a boundary with this one and carry coldwater streams.