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Fishing the Milwaukee River

The Milwaukee River in south east Wisconsin is an oasis in an area otherwise devoid of good stream sport fishing opportunities. As a youth growing up in Milwaukee with limited transportation funds I often found myself fishing this river. Eventually I began traveling to the northern and western portions of Wisconsin in search of pristine wilderness fishing adventure, then further beyond that. Having sampled so many different waters I can say without hesitation that the Milwaukee River offers some decent fishing. And here I will divulge all of my secret spots and favorite places to fish on this stream, secrets which took many years to come by. If anyone finds this information useful perhaps they might buy some of my wonderful instrumental fishing music offered on this website or, better yet, my fantastic DVD Trout Streams of Southwest Wisconsin.

Origins

The headwaters of the Milwaukee River originate in Sheboygan and Fond Du Lac counties. In Sheboygan county the first few miles of the North Branch Milwaukee River, also known as Nichols Creek, is a class II trout stream. Several small tributaries of the North Branch are also trout streams, namely Chambers Creek, Melius Creek and Gooseville Creek (North and South Branches). The East Branch of the Milwaukee River (which is west of the North Branch) flows out of Long Lake in Fond Du Lac County. The inlet to Long Lake is Watercress Creek, which is a trout stream. I fished Long Lake once and caught a 4 pound walleye. It is one of the better fishing lakes in that area.


Riveredge Nature Center	Riveredge Nature Center	Carp from Waubeka	The old resevoir at Waubeka

Fredonia

The uppermost section I have fished is an area upstream of the little town Fredonia near the Washington/Ozaukee county border. The area several miles upstream of where the North Branch Milwaukee River joins is mostly shallow with riffles and a gravel bottom. It is very easy to wade and the shoreline is usually heavily wooded. County Roads A, MY and M in Washington county offer access to this section. There are good numbers of smallmouth bass to be caught although in my experience they tend to be small, 10" or less. There are also northern pike here and they too average on the small side, seldom more than a pound. Small spinners, tiny crankbaits and 1/16th oz or smaller jigs are good lure choices here. You could canoe this area but be prepared to get out and walk your canoe over shallow gravel bars periodically. The only spot too deep to wade is right at the confluence with the North Branch. The North Branch for some reason is deep. I tried canoeing up the North Branch once but was soon met with a large impenetrable mass of downed trees, so I don't know what is up in there other than a DNR report indicating northern pike. I have heard that a county park has been created along the North Branch.

After the confluence with the North Branch the Milwaukee River flows east for a ways and then turns south, a direction it maintains for almost its entire course to Lake Michigan. For a couple miles it maintains its character of a shallow gravel stream with a wooded shoreline featuring good action for little smallmouth. I once caught 30 bass in a day here using a 2" orange Rapala, mostly 8"-10" with the largest being 13" The pike start getting larger too, up to 18"

Near the small town of Waubeka just west of Fredonia, just above the County Road H/84 bridge there used to be a dam. You could launch a canoe from River Road which swung by very close to the stream. I fished the small impoundment regularly for carp bringing home stringers of fish up to 10 pounds. At times the bullhead action could be very fast and suckers were sometimes caught, as were snapping turtles up to 20 pounds. Worms were my bait of choice here. I once talked to a young angler, perhaps 12 years of age, who claimed to have caught a 5 pound smallmouth bass here using bubble gum as bait. Some years went by without my fishing here and when I returned in 2004 I saw they removed the dam, thereby removing the reservoir. I assume this removal was meant to be permanent.

One and a half miles below what used to be the dam, at the County Road A/84 bridge just west of Fredonia is Waubedonia Park offering parking and stream access. There is a long deep pool here. I know of a couple people who claimed to have fished it one warm September weekend and caught their limit of smallmouth 3 to 5 pounds. As they didn't actually weigh these fish on a scale I am skeptical of the estimates but no doubt there probably are some nice bass in that pool. I never fished in that park but when driving by to fish the areas upstream I often saw someone else who was.

Below Waubedonia Park for two and a half miles is some very shallow water that is not worth fishing. It is too shallow for a canoe unless the water is above normal. Very few fish are found in this area. However, below this area is one of my favorite spots. To reach it, go to Ehlers County Park, one mile upstream from Saukville via Cty Hwy W, on the east side of the river. This park is about a quarter mile long and borders a moderately deep pool. People often fish here from the bank with bait so don't expect to catch much although I have caught some small pike here (not surprising as pike tend not to take bait). I would then canoe about 2 miles upstream to the railroad tracks. The current is moderate and the river is often shallow. Usually I had to get out and pull the canoe for a good portion of the way. After crossing the railroad tracks the river deepens and slows down. There are not many fish in this spot, so keep paddling until you reach the island. Around this island and the next island just above it are enough fish to keep you busy all day. This area has the largest average size bass of the entire river with fish up to 18" available although most will be 12" to 14" My favorite lures here are 1/8th oz weedless twister tail jigs. I have caught northern pike up to 3 pounds and I am sure larger ones are present. And of course the usual assortment of other fish are present: rock bass, bluegill, perch, bullhead, redhorse and some carp. This area is wooded with no houses nearby. It is difficult to reach from either below or above. The water quality may not be pristine but it is reasonably good, better than further downstream. I have seen an occasional other angler there but most of the time I have had the area to myself.

Saukville to Grafton

From Ehler's Park at Saukville down to the town of Grafton is 7 miles and makes for a good float trip in a canoe. On the map there appear to be a couple public parks about a mile below Hwy 33 that may offer additional public access to this long area but I have never visited them. There are no other bridge access points so a float trip is a good option to fish this area. There is a ledge a half mile below Ehler's Park that you will need to gently pull your canoe over but the remainder of the way is good. From this point forward there are often houses on the shoreline, usually the east bank, yet there are still a good number of trees and the river is wide enough that you don't get the feeling of trespassing in someone's back yard. The first mile below Hwy 33 seems to offer the best habit for bass and that is where I have had my best action for bass in the 12"-14" range. Most bass will be smaller, although I have heard reports of bass up to 5 pounds being taken from this area. There are plenty of little spots throughout this 7 mile section that are worth casting to. Northern pike and rock bass are also available. I recommend small spinner baits in this area.

There is a dam at Grafton with a park and access on the west side. The dam backs up water for about a mile. For a half mile above this the stream is shallow and rocky requiring you to walk your canoe thru this section. The upper half mile of the reservoir has some current and therefore some good bass fishing. I have caught smallmouth bass up to 18" here along with an occasional northern pike. The last couple times I fished it I caught nothing, so perhaps it got fished out. Lots of people like to setup their lawn chairs on that park and fish bait, so if any bass swim in that section they could get caught.

I had one memorable experience fishing here. It was August 6, 1986. The weather service said light rain in the morning with sunny skies by afternoon. That sounded like good fishing weather to me so I drove up to Grafton and launched my canoe at the park. After catching a small bass it started raining. I put on my rain suit, threw out the anchor and started fishing worms. In between reeling in some bullheads I had to keep bailing out the canoe because it kept raining, hard. It rained and rained and rained. I finally got fed up with the weather and left. What was supposed to be a sunny afternoon ended up setting local records for most rainfall with areas getting 7" to 13" of rain.

Below the dam at Grafton there are two more dams. I have not fished those two other small impoundments but they have a carp derby there every year. After the third dam, just downstream of the Grafton City limits, there are some changes that take place. First, channel catfish are now available, sometimes in good numbers. I have never caught a catfish above Grafton so I would assume they only exist below. Secondly, salmon and steelhead are able to migrate this far from Lake Michigan. This is a side effect of the removal the North Avenue dam in downtown Milwaukee around year 2000. I don't know how many fish actually make it up this far and I never fished for them so I cannot advise on the matter. Thirdly, fish in this section are affected by the contaminates of Cedar Creek, possibly the most toxic stream in Wisconsin. There are smallmouth bass and some northern pike in this stream but it is too shallow for canoeing except when above normal flow. It has a very high PCB content and enters the Milwaukee River from the west, about 2 miles below Grafton. Therefore, while it may be questionable to eat any fish from anywhere in the Milwaukee River, you really don't want to eat them any place below Grafton.

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Fishing the Milwaukee River