Milwaukee River Fishing report 04/21/24 at bottom of page.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Brown Trout
Chinook Salmon
Steelhead
Coho Salmon
Size
Medium – large
Location
Southeastern Wisconsin
Nearest Towns
Milwaukee
Access:
Good
Non-Resident License
State of Wisconsin
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Stream Flow Data:
Real Time USGS Data
Seasons:
Make certain you check the current regulations.
Spring:
The spring run of steelhead starts in March and runs through May.
Summer:
Lake run brown trout start in early July. The peak is from mid-July to mid-September. Chinook salmon come in the river from early July and peak mid August to the first of September. Coho Salmon start moving up the Milwaukee River in late August and peak in September.
Fall:
The Fall run steelhead start up the Milwaukee River in August and continues through November. Mid-September and late October usually has the best runs. Lake run brown and Chinook salmon are in the river through October. Coho are in the river until November.
Winter:
Steelhead are in the river during the winter but fishing depends largely on the weather.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
For Steelhead and Salmon
Fly Line:
7, 8 , 9 or 10 weight for appropriate typerod, sinking, sinking tip and floating
Leaders:
10#, 12# in 9 to 15 feet lengths
Tippets:
10# and 12#
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly 7, 8, 9 and 10 ft. single hand rods
Fly Reels:
For 7 to 10 weight lines
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
KISS Strike Indicators, Lanyards, etc.
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Fly Fishing The Milwaukee River Wisconsin
The Milwaukee River begins in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin and flows past Grafton to downtown Milwaukee, where it enters Lake Michigan. There are three major tributaries of the 104 mile long stream -Cedar Creek, the Menomonee River and the Kinnickinnic River. It’s the largest of the Lake Michigan tributaries in Wisconsin. Fly fishing the Milwaukee River can be an exciting downtown experience.
The river receives a lot of fishing pressure but it’s large enough to accommodate a lot of anglers. It flows right through the middle of the city of Milwaukee. It’s wide, easy to cast on and if the water levels are right, it’s easy to wade.
The Milwaukee has runs of Steelhead, Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Brown Trout. It is also one of the most heavily stocked streams in Wisconsin. It has consistent flows and doesn’t rise and fall as fast as many Great Lake tributary streams.
The Milwaukee River flows are controlled by rain and the flows determine how and where you can fish and as well as wade. It ranges from shallow summer levels between 100 and 300 cfs, to springtime flows in excess of 7,000 cfs.
The Milwaukee River provides some good spawning habitat with many long gravel bars. It also has some good, deep holding areas for steelhead to hold up in prior to spawning that are in close proximity to the gravel bar spawning areas. The best area for steelhead is probably from Capitol Drive in Milwaukee to Thiensville.
Stream access is plentiful. Estabrook and Kletszch parks both offer good access. There are many bridge crossing in Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties where you can access the river. A dam at North Avenue was removed and fish can now migrate upstream for a long ways.
Steelhead, salmon and lake-run brown trout fishing on the Milwaukee River each requires different fly fishing gear and tackle.
Flies:
We have a complete line of flies for steelhead and salmon for the Milwaukee River. We have selected them as the most popular flies from thousands of patterns that have been developed over the years. We have some of our own Perfect Fly steelhead and salmon patterns. They imitate the hexigenia mayfly nymph, certain caddisfly nymphs, stonefly
nymphs and fish roe or eggs that are found in the stream throughout the year. We also have a full line of popular wet flies, egg flies, Spey flies that are very popular. We hope you will give our flies a try.
Milwaukee River Fishing Report:
03/22/2020 Steelhead are being caught in areas clear of ice. Use our Perfect Fly Steelhead nymphs and fish the deeper pools.
06/24/20 It is time for Lake run brown trout to start coming into the river. It is also the time to get your gear and flies ready for them. Send us an email and let us help you.
08/01/20 Lake run browns and Chinook Salmon are in the river and being caught when stream levels permit. As of today, it is still very high.
08/22/20 The river has Lake run browns, coho and chinook salmon and steelhead are in the river and being caught by our customers. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
09/12/20 The river is full of fish but the stream levels are currently high. Fish as soon as it drops some.
10/02/20 There are Coho, Kings (Chinook) and lake run browns in the river and being caught by our customers in good numbers.
10/23/20 We are getting good reports of both Coho and Steelhead being caught. Swinging, nymphs and eggs are working. Shoot us an email for recommendations for flies.
11/16/20 We continue to get good reports on steelhead being caught by our customers. They are swinging, and using eggs and nymphs.
12/18/20 The stream levels are a little high. Swinging is working and we are getting some good reports of steelhead being caught. It will improve when the levels drop some.
12/29/30 The river is still turning out good catches of steelhead.
01/17/21 Stream levels are high and there is some slush ice in the water. Conditions need to improve. We didn’t receive any recent reports.
02/03/21 The stream is high and very cold. There is a lot of shelf and slush ice in the water. Conditions are poor.
02/28/21 The water is still cold with lots of slush ice. Fish the deeper pools with our steelhead nymphs.
03/17/21 Steelhead are being caught in decent numbers since the water is slightly warmer. Shoot us an email for a fly list. sales@perfectflystore.com
05/01/21 The steelhead run is still underway and should last until the end of the month. We are still getting reports of catches.
05/16/21 The steelhead fishing is done until the fall run begins.
09/18/21 Things changed fast. The river has Lake run browns, coho and chinook salmon and steelhead. Fish are starting to be caught by our customers. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
09/27/21 Good reports continue to come in. Good numbers of fish are being caught.
10/07/21 We continue to get good reports from customers. Salmon and steelhead are being caught.
10/18/21 Our steelhead nymphs and swinging methods are catching some good ones -both salmon and steelhead. Conditions are very good.
10/29/21 More good reports from salmon and steelhead catches. Conditions are good.
11/14/21 The river is flowing above normal level but we still received two good reports from customers catching steelhead.
11/23/21 More good reports from customers catching steelhead. Our Steelhead hex nymphs, veiled crystal eggs, comets and egg sucking leech patterns are working good.
12/04/21 The stream is a good bit above normal. We were getting good reports from customers catching steelhead but the levels may make it more difficult.
12/13/21 The stream is still a good bit high. We didn’t receive any reports this past week but it should be good.
12/21/21 We received two good reports from customers this past week.
12/29/21 The stream level is high. We didn’t receive any reports from anyone this past week.
01/07/22 The stream is still well above normal level but we did receive two good reports from customers this past week. Fish are a little sluggish. Fish the pools near the bottom with our steelhead stonefly nymphs.
01/14/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week.
01/22/22 Still no reports from anyone fishing. You should be able to catch steelhead. Let us hear from you. Try our steelhead Hex and steelhead black stonefly nymphs.
01/30/22 We received one good report from a customer this past week. Stream levels are still high and after tomorrow, the weather will again stay below freezing.
02/07/22 We didn’t receive any reports this past week. It has been a cold one.
02/15/22 Still no reports from anyone fishing this past week. Let us hear from you.
02/23/22 We received one good report from a customer fishing for steelhead. it is and has been very cold. Fish our steelhead nymphs in the deeper water. The fish are sluggish.
03/03/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week.
03/11/22 We received another good report from a customer this past week. The cold water has them sluggish, so fish deep and slow using our steelhead nymphs.
03/19/22 The stream levels are up to normal and the water a little warmer. Steelhead are being caught. Now is a good time to be fishing for them.
03/27/22 Stream levels are high again but should drop down soon. We were getting good steelhead reports prior to the higher water levels.
04/04/22 Stream levels are still high but should drop back down soon. We received two good steelhead reports in spite of the high water levels.
04/20/22 The stream is down to a normal level and in good shape. We are getting good reports again.
08/08/22 We are getting reports of lake run brown trout and coho salmon in the river. Let us hear from you.
08/29/22 Sorry for the missed reports. We are now getting lots of good reports on lake run browns, steelhead and chinook, coho salmon.
09/06/22 The river has Lake run browns, coho and chinook salmon and steelhead in it. Some are being caught by our customers in good numbers. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
09/13/22 Stream levels are very high but it is bringing large numbers of fish in.
09/20/22 The stream is down a good bit from last week but still well above normal. We still didn’t get any reports of catches this past week but the river should be full of salmon. Let us hear from you.
10/31/22 Our steelhead nymphs and swinging methods are both catching some good ones – both salmon and steelhead. Conditions are very good.
01/02/23 Stream conditions are unfavorable due to ice, but good winter hatches continue.
03/12/23 The stream is very high (blown out) with lots of slush and bank ice. There are steelhead and lake run browns in the river. Fish as soon as it drops and clears.
04/05/23 The stream is very high and stained. We were getting some good reports from customers catching steelhead prior to the high water levels.
08/18/23 We are resuming reports of the river. The river has Lake run browns, coho, chinook salmon and steelhead are in the river. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
08/26/23 The river has Lake run browns, Coho and Chinook salmon and Steelhead. We are getting good reports from our customers. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
09/02/23 The stream is in good shape with lots of fish coming in. We received two good catch reports from customers this past week.
09/09/23 More good catch reports have come in on both salmon and steelhead. Swinging and nymphing methods are both working good depending on the water types.
09/16/23 Good conditions continue and we continue to get good reports from customers catching salmon and steelhead. Get one of our salmon and or steelhead fly selections and you can cover all types of presentations you need.
09/23/23 Conditions remain good. We are still getting good catch reports. Both swinging and nymphing methods are working.
09/30/23 Conditions remain good. We received three good reports from customers catching steelhead this past week.
10/07/23 Several more good catch reports from customers have come in. Swinging our egg sucking leech patterns, and Hex Nymphs are just two of several of our flies that are working good.
10/19/23 Conditions remain good with swinging and nymphing methods working.
10/27/23 We continue to get good reports from customers fishing for salmon and steelhead. Both swinging and nymphing methods are working. Click Here to see our Steelhead Flies: Click Here to see our Salmon Flies:
11/02/23 More good reports have come in on Steelhead. Good numbers are being caught by our customers. Our steelhead Hexigenia nymphs are working good.
11/07/23 We received three more good reports from customers. Nymphing and swinging methods are both working good.
11/14/23 Conditions remain good with good catches coming in. The Perfect Fly Great Lake Fly Selection is a great fly selection for this river.
11/21/23 More good catch reports are coming in. It seems there are several locations along the river producing well. Swinging our Perfect Fly purple egg sucking leech patterns is producing well.
12/07/23 Sorry for the missed report. We received two more good catch reports from customers fishing this past week.
01/01/24 We did not receive any reports from anyone this past week. You should be able to catch steelhead. Let us hear from you. Try our steelhead Hex and steelhead black stonefly nymphs.
01/21/24 The river has some slush ice but it is mostly clear. It is still catch and release season with regular season opening March 1st.
02/03/24 The water is still cold with lots of slush ice. Steelhead are still being caught by some anglers. Fish the deeper pools using our steelhead nymphs like the Hexigena steelhead nymph and Giant Black steelhead nymph.
02/16/24 The stream is high and highly stained but some steelhead are still being caught. Our steelhead nymphs and streamers in very dark and chartreuse colors are working.
02/25/24 We are still getting very good reports from customers catching steelhead. Both nymphing and swinging methods are working good.
03/03/24 Steelhead are still being caught. The water is cold and a slower presentation is best.
03/16/24 Sorry for the missed report. Conditions are very good. We received several good catch reports from customers fishing this past week. The water is high and stained. Use our steelhead nymphs when the stream levels are high and get them down near the bottom of the deeper water.
03/23/24 Steelhead are still being caught in good numbers. The stream level is down to an okay level.
03/30/24 The stream is up high and highly stained. It is still possible to catch steelhead but I suggest you give it some time to drop and clear.
04/06/24 The stream is still flowing high and badly stained.
04/16/24 Conditions are good. The stream is flowing just a little above a normal level and clear. Steelhead are still being caught swinging and on our steelhead nymphs.
04/21/24 We received one good report from a customer fishing for steelhead.
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations.
Click Here to see our Steelhead Flies: Click Here to see our Salmon Flies:
Copyright 2013 James Marsh