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Home › Waters › Wisconsin › Wisconsin River
River · Driftless Area · Wisconsin

Wisconsin River Fishing Guides

The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, ninety-two undammed miles of sandbars and islands from Prairie du Sac to the Mississippi, floated for smallmouth, walleye and catfish.

A braided prairie river running past a raw cut bank
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Wisconsin River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Wisconsin River

Below the last dam at Prairie du Sac the Wisconsin River runs ninety-two miles to the Mississippi without another impoundment, through a corridor of sandbars, wooded islands and bluffs protected as the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. It is the longest free-flowing stretch of river in the Midwest and it is a genuinely different kind of fishing trip: shallow, sandy, braided water where you read sandbar edges and wing dams instead of rocks.

Smallmouth bass are the main quarry and the river holds them in numbers, along with walleye that stack below the Prairie du Sac dam in spring, a good musky population, channel and flathead catfish that reach serious size, and a native lake sturgeon run. Most guided days are run in jet boats or shallow-draft boats because the sandbars move constantly and a prop is a liability. Canoe and kayak trips with sandbar camping are the other tradition here, and it is one of the best multi-day paddle trips in the Midwest.

The Muscoda gauge reads a very large basin. Summer flows in the low thousands of cfs give normal sandbar conditions; spring flows several times higher cover the bars, move the channels and change the river’s shape for the season. Because the bed is sand, the navigable channel genuinely relocates from year to year, which is why local knowledge matters more here than on a rock-bottom river.

Sauk City, Spring Green, Muscoda, Boscobel and Prairie du Chien line the corridor. Spring Green is the best-known base, and the whole valley is easy driving from Madison.

This water needs a real photo

The photo at the top of this page is not Wisconsin River.

It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.

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Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Wisconsin River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Wisconsin River cfs

Now: 5,300 cfs, read 3:45 am CDT, Mon Oct 19, 2026 (USGS 05407000, WISCONSIN RIVER AT MUSCODA, WI).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Prairie du Sac and Sauk City: the top of the free-flowing river below the dam, prime spring walleye water.
Arena and Mazomanie: upper riverway landings.
Spring Green and Peck's Landing: mid-river access and the busiest recreation stretch.
Lone Rock and Muscoda: landings near the gauge.
Boscobel and Woodman: lower river ramps.
Bridgeport and Wyalusing State Park: the Mississippi confluence at the bottom of the riverway.

Seasons

March through May: walleye below the Prairie du Sac dam, high water and moving sand.
June through August: prime smallmouth and catfish, sandbar camping, low clear water by August.
September and October: the best smallmouth month, cooling water, few boats.
November through February: musky and walleye until ice; the river freezes in most winters.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Wisconsin River?

As of Oct 19, 3:45 am, the USGS gauge WISCONSIN RIVER AT MUSCODA, WI reads 5,300 cfs, the 44th percentile for this date. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Wisconsin River?

Anglers target Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Lake Sturgeon, Muskellunge, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye on the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin.

Are there fishing guides on the Wisconsin River?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Wisconsin River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Wisconsin River?

Prairie du Sac and Sauk City: the top of the free-flowing river below the dam, prime spring walleye water. Arena and Mazomanie: upper riverway landings. Spring Green and Peck's Landing: mid-river access and the busiest recreation stretch. Lone Rock and Muscoda: landings near the gauge. Boscobel and Woodman: lower river ramps. Bridgeport and Wyalusing State Park: the Mississippi confluence at the bottom of the riverway.

When is the best time to fish the Wisconsin River?

March through May: walleye below the Prairie du Sac dam, high water and moving sand. June through August: prime smallmouth and catfish, sandbar camping, low clear water by August. September and October: the best smallmouth month, cooling water, few boats. November through February: musky and walleye until ice; the river freezes in most winters.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Wisconsin River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Wisconsin agency site: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/fishing/regulations