Kickapoo River
A river in Wisconsin
About Kickapoo River
The Kickapoo covers 47 miles between its ends and carries 213 miles of bank doing it, which is the arithmetic of a river that will not go straight. It runs through Vernon and Crawford counties in the unglaciated Driftless country, past Ontario, La Farge, Gays Mills, Soldiers Grove, Steuben and Wauzeka to the Wisconsin River.
Sixty-seven miles of it are classified as Class I and Class II trout water — Class I meaning the state considers the population self-sustaining without stocking. Part of the river is also on the impaired waters list, a water quality listing that sits alongside rather than contradicting the trout classification. Smallmouth habitat is classified across four types on the warmer lower reaches.
Every one of the fifteen public landings on record is a canoe landing, numbered in sequence down the river. That is the whole story of how this water is fished and floated: small craft, moving water, and cold spring-fed tributaries coming in off the valley walls.
Trout regulations vary a great deal by reach and by season in this part of the state. Check the current DNR rules for the specific stretch.
Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 1182400.
How the state manages it
- smallmouth · Non-Wadable Coarse Substrate; Non-Wadable Fine Substrate; Wadable Cool Water; Wadable Warm Water
- trout · CLASS I; 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.