South Fork Flambeau River
A river in Wisconsin
About South Fork Flambeau River
The South Fork of the Flambeau runs 40 miles through Price and Sawyer counties, past Fifield and Winter, before joining the main Flambeau. The survey gives it 1,136 acres of surface and 150 miles of bank.
Twelve public accesses are on record and almost every one is a carry-in or canoe launch — Fisherman's, several plain South Fork carry-ins, the Flambeau River carry-in. There is no trailer ramp on the list. That is the defining fact about fishing this river: the boat has to be small enough to carry.
The state manages musky here as natural reproduction plus stocking and classifies lake sturgeon as naturally reproducing. Smallmouth habitat runs from nursery water to non-wadable coarse substrate.
Check the current DNR regulations for the stretch being fished.
Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 2231200.
How the state manages it
- musky · Natural reproduction plus stocking (Cat. 2)
- smallmouth · Non-Wadable Coarse Substrate; Non-Wadable Fine Substrate; Wadable Nursery Waters; Wadable Warm Water
- sturgeon · Naturally Reproducing - ANSRI
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.