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Dark, mysterious and enchanting, the Black River is an excellent sport fishing stream flowing in a southwest direction thru western Wisconsin. It is located between the Chippewa and Wisconsin Rivers and enters the Mississippi River at LaCrosse. As there are a lot of good fishing streams in this part of the state and not so many people the Black River receives less pressure than it deserves. Not much information has been published on this stream, and seeing as how I have fished it extensively and have a fishing website I thought it useful to post what I know about it for the benefit of those who may consider a future trip here. And who knows, some of the visitors to my website may end up buying my excellent DVD Trout Streams of SW Wisconsin!
A brief history about this river: 13 thousand years ago glaciers damned up the Wisconsin River, causing about a third of the state to become flooded. This massive natural reservoir finally found an outlet thru the Black River watershed. So at one time for about 2,000 years the Black River was the main pathway for water to exit the state. The river is unique in that it travels thru two distinct geological topographies. The upper portion flows thru the glaciated central plains of Wisconsin. This is characterized by boulders and gravel, rapids and riffles. The lower portion begins abruptly immediately below Black River Falls and flows thru the unglaciated western upland region of Wisconsin. This section features large amounts of sand, remnants from long ago when Wisconsin was under a shallow sea. This section has tall bluffs along the banks and occasionally limestone or sandstone cliffs. There are no real rapids on the lower section of the Black River.
The Black River originates from the appropriately named Black Lake. It travels for some miles as a designated class 2 trout stream until it arrives at Medford where it is damned to form a small lake. This very uppermost part of the Black River is not a fishing destination. I viewed it from a couple bridges. It may be a small stream but as far as I can tell it is too deep to wade. The shoreline drops off quickly and the shoreline is covered with thick willow bushes. I could see no rapids or other trout holding cover from either bridge.
The small lake in Medford offers largemouth bass, panfish and northern pike. There is a county park along the shoreline and it is fished regularly by locals. During the next 25 miles the stream increases in size as it zigzags to the southwest, picking up flow from tributaries like the Little Black River, Paradise Creek, Trappers Creek, Pine Creek and McKenzie Creek. None of these small creeks hold trout. There are about 10 bridge crossings in this area and much forest land. There is a canoe landing at the upstream highway 64 crossing. I have not fished this stretch of the Black River but it does seem intriguing. The couple bridge crossings I saw here showed the river to be too deep to wade and surprisingly wide. Looking at Google Earth there appears to be some long rapids sections. I don't think many people have ever fished this area.
Below begins a description of those sections I have fished, starting from upstream to downstream. The upper section above Black River Falls is for wade fishing. There is a water gage at Neillsville. Flows under 120cfs are good. This is typical during July, August and early September. Flows under 100 or 80 are better. I once fished at a flow of 16cfs. Low flows allow you to wade faster, farther, and confines the fish to easily identifiable areas.
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| Black River near Cty Rd O |
Cty Hwy O
This is about 5 miles north of Hwy 29 and is the most upstream point I have fished on the Black River. While very deep near the bridge the stream is fairly shallow and easy to wade for at least the next couple miles upstream. The bottom is mostly gravel and, like much of the Black River, full of crayfish. The one day I fished this section produced good fishing for decent sized walleye, 15"-17", using 1/8th oz. black twister tail jigs. A heavy cloud cover surely helped. No bass or northern were caught.
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| Black River near Cty Rd X |
Hwy X
Just north of Hwy 29 there is a park on the west side of the river. Locals like to picnic here and bait fish. Instead of parking your car at the park I recommend starting at the Hwy X bridge. Walk upstream along a trail on the west side of the river until you climb over some railroad tracks. There is a deep patch of muck you need to traverse on the other side of those tracks. The river which had been deep and slow near the park now becomes shallow and wadable. The bottom here is mostly gravel. During low water I've had good luck with smallmouth here and usually get a few pike as well. The bass tend to run a little smaller than average but I've gotten them up to 13 inches. I have caught northerns up to 5 pounds but most are 1 to 2 pounds. I saw a couple fishermen floating this section once. I am not sure where they put in but you will need to portage at least a couple short rapids that are too rocky to run.
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| 15 inch smallmouth bass | 16 inch walleye | Black River near Cty Rd N |
Hwy N
Probably one of my favorite areas on the Black River, this section is accessed from the Cty Hwy N bridge about 3 miles south of Hwy 29. I fished from here to the Hwy 29 and had good fishing for bass from 13" to 15" and lost one that looked much bigger. There are lots of northern pike here as well. One small spot produced 3 northerns, all between 2 and 3 pounds. And if that weren't enough temptation to fish this section you can also throw in some walleye in the 14"-16" range. There are gravel bars, riffles, pools, eddies, backwater sloughs and some weed beds. My only complaint is as you approach Hwy 29 the heavy traffic becomes audible. The trees often lean over the water, providing shade from the summer heat. I really got the feeling that not many people fish here. Well, once this is posted that may not remain true anymore.
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| Black River near Cty Rd N | Black River near Colby Factory Rd |
Colby Factory Road
I believe the Delorme Atlas lists this as Church Road. It is the first bridge downstream of N, about 5 miles south of Hwy 29. I did not find this section to my liking. There are some deep spots that are difficult to wade. The rest of the stream is straight, uniform and lacking in structure. I caught a couple small pike and small walleye, no bass, and in general found it uninteresting. An interesting story happened when I tried to access the river. I had to get off the road and walk about 1/5th mile thru a thick forest to reach the river. I turned on my GPS just in case I got lost but kept it in my pocket, confident I would reach the stream in a few minutes. The difficult terrain made it impossible to walk in a straight line so I began zig zagging. After a surprisingly long walk thru the dense foilage I finally came upon an eroded bank that looked overly familiar. I pulled out my GPS and it showed I had walked in a complete circle.
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| Black River near Popple River |
Popple River Wayside
From Hwy 29, take Hwy 73 south for 6 miles until it crosses the Popple River. There is a wayside here with room to park half a dozen cars. When the water is low it is feasible to wade from here about 1.5 miles down the Popple River to reach the Black. When I did this the average depth of the Popple was about 12 inches. Many crayfish but no fish were present. Some boulder gardens to negotiate but overall a fairly easy wade. There is one land owner on the southern side who strongly posts his land, so stay in the river where you will be legal. Where the Popple finally reaches the Black River I fished upstream for about 3 miles having very good action for smallmouth bass up to 15" (I saw a few that looked like 18"), a few small northerns and a small walleye. In low water this is a fine stretch of river - wild, secluded, seldom fished and lots of action. The best fishing starts a half mile above the confluence with the Popple. Just as I started to turn back my wading boot started to fall apart and I had to tie it and walk weird to keep it from totally disconnecting. Shortly after that I pulled a muscle in my other leg. Fortunately I had a wading staff to lean on but a pair of crutches would have been better. I will never again buy wading boots that are glued together rather than sewed.
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| Black River near Popple River | Popple River | Black River Musky 5lbs | Black River Pike 6lbs | Black River Near Hemlock Rd |
Hemlock/Rippleton Rd
This bridge is about 2 miles downstream from the confluence with the Popple River. It is very different from the stretch above the Popple. Going upstream you will encounter a brief rocky rapids followed by a long, deep, slow area. It is difficult to wade but with a staff and caution you can still do it. This section reminds me of Ontario with large granite boulders and fast drop offs. The rapids section will yield a few decent bass but beyond there you are into prime pike water. Upon encountering an island I took the shallow channel. Except for a small pool it was mostly dried up. I cast my small 2.5" Rapala in there, hoping for maybe a small bass. To my surprise a 6 pound, 30" northern pike hit it. The fish apparently got stranded here when the water levels lowered and was probably starving after eating all the available food. I couldn't pull him out of that hole with my little ultra-light so I waded thru it and chased him into the shallows where he soon got beached. After a quick measure and photograph I returned him to the main channel. Soon after I got a 5 pound 26" musky on a 1/8th oz. spinner bait. I don't catch many musky but comparing him to the northern I just got I have to say muskies are a much more elegant species. A northern looks and acts like some ancient, untamed dinosaur (but still fun to catch!)
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| near Hemlock Road |
Greenwood Park
Just upstream of Greenwood is Greenwood Park providing parking and access. This is one place where I have seen a number of footprints and suspect it gets fished a bit and maybe that is why I didn't catch anything here. A quarter mile above the park there is an extensive boulder garden which is difficult to wade thru. I don't think bass like boulder gardens either. Above that the river looked OK but it didn't give up any fish.
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| near Greenwood |
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