Thornapple River
A river in Wisconsin
About Thornapple River
The Thornapple runs 35 miles through Rusk and Sawyer counties, past Bruce, Draper and Loretta, on its way to the Flambeau. The survey gives it 328 acres of surface and 89 miles of bank.
Musky here are classified as self-sustaining via natural reproduction — Category 1, the state's assessment that the population maintains itself without stocking. Smallmouth habitat is classified as nursery and wadable warm water.
No public boat landing is on record. This is a river reached from county roads and bridges, in country where that is the normal arrangement.
Check the current Wisconsin DNR regulations before keeping fish.
Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 2360800.
How the state manages it
- musky · Self-sustaining via natural reproduction (Cat. 1)
- smallmouth · Wadable Nursery Waters; Wadable Warm Water
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.