Buffalo River
A river in Wisconsin
About Buffalo River
The Buffalo River runs 31 miles through the Driftless country of western Wisconsin, past Mondovi and then southwest to the Mississippi a couple of miles above Alma. The survey gives it 473 acres of surface and 114 miles of bank, which is the arithmetic of a narrow river with a great many bends.
Thirteen miles are classified as Class II trout water and the river carries an Exceptional Resource Water listing. It is also on the state's impaired waters list. On the warmer reaches, smallmouth habitat is classified across four types including wadable cool water.
There is no public boat landing on record anywhere on it. That does not mean the river is closed — on a Driftless trout stream it usually means the fishing is done wading, from bridge crossings and public easements, which is the normal way of things in this part of the state.
Trout regulations here vary by stream and season, and access is largely a matter of knowing where public ground meets the water. Check the current DNR trout regulations and the stream-by-stream access maps.
Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data, and from Buffalo River (Wisconsin) — Wikipedia. State water ID WBIC 1813900.
How the state manages it
- smallmouth · Non-Wadable Coarse Substrate; Non-Wadable Fine Substrate; Wadable Cool Water; 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.