Apple River

About Apple River

The Apple River runs 32 miles through Polk and St. Croix counties, past Star Prairie and Amery down toward the St. Croix. The survey gives it 524 acres of surface and 98 miles of bank.

Ten miles carry a Class II trout classification, mostly on the cooler upper water around Star Prairie. Below that the river is managed for smallmouth across four habitat types including nursery water.

Six public accesses are on record and they are canoe-scale: two Apple River canoe landings, the county park canoe launch, the Star Prairie village park landing, the dam access and a general river access. The river is well known for summer tubing on its lower reaches, which is worth knowing before planning a July morning on it.

Trout water and warmwater run into each other on this river. Check the current DNR regulations for the specific stretch.

Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 2614000.

How the state manages it

• smallmouth · Non-Wadable Coarse Substrate; Non-Wadable Fine Substrate; Wadable Nursery Waters; Wadable Warm Water
• trout · CLASS II

Wisconsin DNR fisheries designations. These describe how the water is managed, not what is in it on any given day.

Fishing license

Wisconsin sells them online. Buy one from the state. We don’t know whether you need one — that depends on your age, where you live, the water, and what your guide’s own license covers.