Peshtigo River
A river in Wisconsin
About Peshtigo River
The Peshtigo runs 74 miles through Forest and Marinette counties, from the country around Laona and Blackwell down through Silver Cliff and Roaring Rapids to Peshtigo and Green Bay. The survey puts 1,852 acres of surface and 251 miles of bank on it.
It carries more state fisheries designations than almost any river in Wisconsin. Fifty-eight miles are classified as Class II trout water with an Outstanding Resource Water listing. Musky are managed across three different categories on different reaches, walleye across two, lake sturgeon as naturally reproducing, and smallmouth across four habitat types. A river that earns all five programmes at once is a river that changes a great deal between its ends.
Only nine public landings are on record, which for 74 miles of river is thin. Boat Landing #12 at Roaring Rapids, the County BB access, several plain Peshtigo River accesses, and the harbor access at the mouth.
With trout classification on the upper river and warmwater management below it, the regulations differ substantially by reach. Check the current DNR rules for the stretch in question.
Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 515500.
How the state manages it
- musky · Natural reproduction plus stocking (Cat. 2); Reproduction UNK, stocking occurs (Cat. 0); Self-sustaining via natural reproduction (Cat. 1)
- smallmouth · Non-Wadable Coarse Substrate; Non-Wadable Fine Substrate; Wadable Nursery Waters; Wadable Warm Water
- sturgeon · Naturally Reproducing - ANSRI
- trout · CLASS II
- walleye · Natural Reproduction Only; Stocking plus Natural Reproduction
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.