Skip to main content

Places to fish in Wisconsin

Fishing Wisconsin

Looking for a place to wet a line? You’ve come to the right place. Whether it’s a lake, stream, river, or pond, Wisconsin offers a variety of fishing opportunities for experts and novices alike.

Fishing the Great Lakes

Fishing with kids

Fishing Wisconsin - Close to Home

Recent studies have shown that more than half of the anglers do not travel more than 30 minutes from their home. Here's a list of waters developed by DNR fisheries biologists to allow people to get outside, find a fishing spot and stay close to home. These waters are focused more on shore fishing opportunities.

Accessible fishing

Quality fishing opportunities

Musky fishing

Wisconsin lakes

Trout fishing

T.R.O.U.T

The Trout Regulations & Opportunities User Tool (TROUT) was designed to help trout anglers find places to fish. The TROUT application includes trout fishing regulations, classified trout waters, public land and DNR fishing easements.

Trout fishing resources

Public fishing areas on Dane County trout streams:

Boat access and shore fishing opportunities

DNR fisheries areas

Fishing on private forest lands

  • Fishing opportunities are available on private forest lands. Use the mapping tool to find areas you'd like to fish.

More fishing resources

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest [exit DNR] has more than 2,000 miles of stream with nearly 1,400 miles classified as trout waters, 607 lakes greater than ten acres in size and more than 400 spring ponds.