Wolf River

About Wolf River

The Wolf runs 110 miles through Langlade, Shawano, Waupaca, Outagamie and Winnebago counties, with 5,507 acres of surface and 507 miles of bank. It is two rivers in one. The upper reach through Langlade and Elcho is cold, fast and federally protected — 62 miles of it carry a Class II trout classification, an Outstanding Resource Water listing and Wild and Scenic River status. Below that it slows and widens through Shawano, New London, Fremont and Winneconne into the Winnebago system.

Thirty-seven public landings serve it, the third most of any water in the state. They range from city ramps at Shawano and New London to carry-in access at Burgert Lane and Clear Lake Road.

The state's classifications track the change in the river. Musky are managed here both as self-sustaining and as stocking-dependent depending on the reach, smallmouth habitat spans nursery water through non-wadable coarse substrate, and lake sturgeon are classified as naturally reproducing — one of the few river systems in the state where that is true.

A trout reach and a sturgeon river under one name means the rules are not the same from one end to the other. Check the current DNR regulations for the specific stretch.

Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 241300.

How the state manages it

• musky · Reproduction UNK, stocking occurs (Cat. 0); Self-sustaining via natural reproduction (Cat. 1)
• smallmouth · Non-Wadable Coarse Substrate; Non-Wadable Fine Substrate; Wadable Cool Water; Wadable Nursery Waters; Wadable Warm Water
• sturgeon · Naturally Reproducing - ANSRI
• trout · 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.