Coppersmith Studios Presents

Warm Water Streams of Wisconsin

Fishing the Rock River System of Southeast Wisconsin

Part I

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ROCK RIVER SYSTEM

Part I

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Rock River System Part II

I would venture to say the Rock River system in southeast Wisconsin is one of the state.s most fertile fisheries. The majority of fish here are rough fish but they provide exciting action and excellent eating. Having lived much of my life in SE WI I had an opportunity to spend many days fishing these waters and learned a lot about them. And now I am going to share with you what I know.


Horicon Marsh, beginning of Rock River			15# snapping turtle from Rock River

For all practical purposes the Rock River originates in Horicon Marsh. This area is known nationally as a giant bird sanctuary and features some fine sightseeing and hunting for ducks and geese. During the spring time, after the water starts to warm up but before the weeds grow thick there can be decent fishing for largemouth bass. Once the weeds grow in the bass are hard to catch. I fished here once and caught a few small carp and bullhead but nothing special. You will certainly want to stay away from here during the fall hunting season.

Just a couple miles downstream is Sinissippi Lake. A 12. dam creates an impoundment 5. deep. While I have never fished here I know people who have had good action for northern pike fishing green spinners and spoons along the weed edges. Bullhead action is said to be very good too. And yes, many carp are present.


Lower segment of Rock River		Middle section of Bark River

For the next 20 miles the Rock River meanders in a southerly direction. Here it is slow, shallow and occasionally blocked by log jams. The bottom is mostly gravel and rock and the water is usually muddy. The main fish in this section is the bullhead. However, certain sections during certain times of year have been known to produce some northern pike. There are some convenient canoe access points (upstream to downstream) such as Riverside Park just below Hustisford, the Hwy 60 bridge, Elmwood Road, the Cty O bridge, the CW bridge, Kanow Park and Wayside Park along Hwy 16. I fished this section once and caught over a dozen carp and channel catfish but they were all on the small side. I got the impression fish in this section are generally stunted.

As the Rubicon River, then Assipun River and finally the Oconomowoc River add their flows the Rock River begins to gain some size. During the next 20 miles the Rock becomes deeper and the current picks up some speed. There are a couple small dams in Watertown and the lower one has been known to offer decent fishing for walleyes during the spring spawning run in April. Twelve miles below Watertown is Hwy 94, and a mile below that is a boat landing along Cty Road B. This is at the town of Johnson Creek. I have fished this area before and caught numerous small channel catfish but I don.t recommend it. There is too much power boat traffic and lots of water skiers. It is an aesthetically unpleasing and at times dangerous place to fish. It would be my guess the 7 miles between Watertown upstream to the Oconomowoc River would be the best place to fish as the Oconomowoc adds a significant amount of clear water and supposedly does not have that much boat traffic.

A few miles below here is the town of Jefferson, a dam and a boat landing. Twelve miles downstream of this point is 10,000 acre Lake Koshkonong. A major run of walleye and white bass up from Koshkonong takes place each spring. Some of these fish accumulate just below the dam in Jefferson. Others steer off into the Crawfish River which enters the Rock just below the dam, while others veer into the Bark River which enters several miles downstream from the dam. The Rock River here begins to have some deep holes harboring good numbers of carp in the 10 to 20 pound range with some possibly larger. These behemoths feed in the fertile waters of Lake Koshkonong, particularly near the mouth of the river, and will periodically swim a few miles up into the river when the mood suites them. A convenient boat landing can be found at Rock River Park below Fort Atkinson. I recall fishing the spring walleye run a couple times and while I never caught any walleye (I have never caught ANY walleye in ANY of the spring walleye fishing trips ANYwhere! I will never again attempt spring walleye fishing) there were so many big carp that we were accidentally snagging them on our jigs as were other fishermen in the area. In hindsight I don.t know why I didn.t go back there later when the water warmed up and target those big carp. It would have been a real work out pulling those pigs in.

RUBICON RIVER

I cannot say too much about the Rubicon River because I did not fish it much. It originates from Pike Lake. At 450 acres this lake is known for its popular state park, good walleye fishing and occasional large northern pike. The Rubicon travels thru the town of Hartford and then thru the Rubicon Lagoon. About 15 miles later it enters the impounded Neosho Pond and a few miles after that enters the Rock River from the East just below Hustisford. There is a landing at the confluence of these two streams on Elmwood Road. While the stream is not large certain sections can produce fast action for eating sized bullheads. These can be caught at bridge crossings from the road right-of-way.

ASHIPPUN RIVER

I cannot say too much about the Ashippun River because I did not fish it much either. It enters the Rock River near Ixonia between CW and Hwy 16. It is not easy to canoe in low water. Take county road O about 5 miles East of where it crosses the Rock River and you will come to a small impoundment on the Ashippun River. This is at the town of Adderly. I would guess the size of this pond is about 25 acres. It is full of carp in the 5-10 pound range, many of which can be seen in the shallow water. The water is fairly clear here and the bottom is all muck. There is good fishing for largemouth bass with some up to 5 pounds reportedly caught. Good action for pike under 4 pounds as well as bluegill and crappie can be had here. You can drop a canoe in from the road crossing but fishing from the bridge is questionable as the adjacent land owner may complain. There is a golf course on the eastern side which decreases any sense of wilderness or solitude.


Oconomowoc River near Loew Lake	Oconomowoc River	2 Sand Cranes in Oconomowoc River	Oconomowoc River Carp

OCONOMOWOC RIVER

The Oconomowoc River enters the Rock River from the East just downstream of Ixonia, below Hwy 135. The stream has an interesting history as it travels thru a number of interesting lakes, mostly in Waukesha County, including Oconomowoc, Okauchee, Pine, Lac La Belle, Fowler, Moose, Keesus, Beaver, Friess Lake, Little Friess, North and Loew Lake (also spelled Lowe Lake). These lakes are all heavily fished by locals and so I tend to stay off them. The exception is Loew Lake.

Loew Lake is 23 acres, part of the Kettle Moraine state forest property and difficult to access. There is one unobtrusive small house on the shoreline, the rest has a scenic wilderness quality to it. It has produced northern pike up to 17 pounds and smallmouth bass up to 6 pounds as well as largemouth bass, crappies and assorted panfish. The first time I attempted to access this lake was by dropping my canoe off the St. Augustine Road (not much room to park, probably a bad idea) and float the half mile down to the lake. Your canoe will get plenty scratched in the process and you will have to walk, push and pull to get back up. The next time I parked my car on County Rd. Q and paddled 6 miles upstream to get to the lake. The current is mostly slow and deep but that is still a time consuming and exhausting effort, and then I had to paddle back downstream at the end of the day. Eventually I got a small motorized boat with a 2.5hp motor and was able to make the trip more easily. I did OK at this lake and also spent some time fishing the 6 miles of river between Q and the lake, catching some carp up to 7 pounds, some pike (all under 2 pounds) and some panfish. I know a person who claims to have hooked a really large bass in Loew that got off after the hooks straightened out. For me the main draw was always the wilderness feel within close proximity to my home in the congested City of Milwaukee.


Loew Lake	Northern Pike from Loew Lake	Loew Lake	Loew Lake

Just downstream of County Rd Q is a small impoundment which is mostly filled in with muck and offers little more than some stunted carp. For maybe 5 miles downstream there is a hiking trail roughly paralleling the river and you can see the stream is rocky, shallow and offers little habitat for fish life. It then goes thru a series of lakes and finally there is a long lake-free stretch before it empties into the Rock River. I scouted that lower section once and made the following notes: The upper BB bridge did not have access; The lower BB bridge offered good parking; Morgan Road had narrow shoulders but was otherwise useable for a small boat launch; Elm Drive was good; W. River Drive had good parking but the traffic was fast, heavy and the carry to the river was a little long; Woody Lane had mediocre parking opportunities; North Side Drive had good parking and launching capabilities but there was an electric weir for carp defense immediately upstream. This is the last bridge prior to the Rock River and I was not sure if it was safe to put in by a high voltage system.

I can say that about a 100 yards upstream of Elm Drive where the river makes a 90 degree turn there is a deep hole surrounded by long stretches of shallow water. I was here in August and observed well over a hundred carp in that whole, most of them 3 to 5 pounds.


7 pound Carp from Oconomowoc River	Oconomowoc River below Cty Rd Q	Oconomowoc River near Elm Rd	Oconomowoc River near Elm Rd

Part II Rock River System

Created by: Dan Coppersmith 2023| www.CoppersmithStudios.com

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Coppersmith Studios Presents

Warm Water Streams of Wisconsin

Fishing the Rock River System of Southeast Wisconsin

Part I