Trempealeau River

About Trempealeau River

The Trempealeau runs 27 miles down through its own county to the Mississippi near Perrot State Park. The survey puts 1,120 acres of surface and 160 miles of bank on it, and that ratio — a great deal of bank for very little surface — is the shape of a narrow Driftless river winding through a broad valley.

Twenty miles are classified as Class II and Class III trout water and the river carries an Exceptional Resource Water listing, the state's second-highest water quality designation. It is also on the impaired waters list, which is not a contradiction so much as a record of different reaches assessed differently. Smallmouth habitat is classified across four types on the warmer water.

There are only two public accesses on record: the boat landing at Perrot State Park near the mouth and a canoe launch upstream. Most of this river is reached by wading or by asking permission.

Trout regulations in the Driftless are specific by stream and by season. Check the current DNR rules before fishing it.

Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 1769900.

How the state manages it

• smallmouth · Non-Wadable Coarse Substrate; Non-Wadable Fine Substrate; Wadable Cool Water; Wadable Warm Water
• trout · CLASS II; CLASS III

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.