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Wolf River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Wolf River: part of Wisconsin's Winnebago System, where DNR biologists track the spring walleye spawn.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
1,460 cfs
Air / High
68 / 68 F
Wind
S 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04079000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Wolf River rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. The river is running 1,460 cfs, on the rise. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:30 AM-11:30 AM and 9:60 PM-11:60 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

White bassFair

The spring run happens in this band: tributaries, shoals and the upper ends of reservoirs as the water reaches about 55Β°F.

Tomorrow: Similar at 68 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Wisconsin requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $20.00 for residents. What a Wisconsin licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing white bass here? Check the size and bag limits with WI DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Wisconsin, read off the agency, are on the Wisconsin seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Wolf River at New London.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04079000.

1,2361,6752,1141,460 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 113 years of October 23

At 1,460 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04079000 (Wolf River at New London) is at the 61st percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 113 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 1,250 cfs; the highest was 4,830 cfs and the lowest 420 cfs.

p10 726median 1,250p90 2,522

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04079000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp68 F
High / Low68 / 49 F
WindS 7-11 mph
Pressure1023.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain3% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:20 / 17:57
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)54 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Wolf River this week

The best day on Wolf River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:30 AM-11:30 AM and 9:60 PM-11:60 PM
Minor period
3:53 AM-4:53 AM
Sun
07:20 to 17:57
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Wolf River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. The spring run happens in this band: tributaries, shoals and the upper ends of reservoirs as the water reaches about 55Β°F.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

When to come: the Wolf River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
White bass
Walleye
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Wolf River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 67 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 5 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Wisconsin requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Winnebago System Waters, 2026-27 regulations: walleye, sauger and hybrids open all year, 3 a day in total with no minimum length, only one of which may be a sauger or hybrid; largemouth and smallmouth bass 14-inch minimum, 5 a day; no limit on white bass; panfish 25 a day; hook-and-line fishing for lake sturgeon closed all year. Motor trolling is allowed with three hooks, baits or lures per person, and minnows may not be harvested for personal use.

Access

No Wolf River access sites were confirmed on an official page for this guide. The USGS gauge on the Wolf River at New London (04079000) reports flow, stage and water temperature.

About this water

The Wolf River from its mouth upstream to the Shawano dam, part of Wisconsin's Winnebago System Waters.

Fishing Wolf River: the full guide

Part of the Winnebago System

Wisconsin's 2026-27 fishing regulations include the Wolf River, from its mouth upstream to the dam in the city of Shawano, in the Winnebago System Waters along with lakes Poygan, Winneconne, Butte des Morts and Winnebago. The system spans Calumet, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago counties.

The 2025 spawn

The DNR's 2025 Lake Winnebago trawling report says spawning activity on the Wolf picked up on April 1, when the river gauge at New London passed 7 feet, and that the river stayed above 7 feet until May 12. Water warmed gradually with little fluctuation, and the survey caught 16.0 young-of-year walleye per trawl, the fourth-highest on record, against a 40-year average of 5.3.

What the survey says about the system

The same report describes elevated walleye production over the last ten years, the highest white bass catch in over a decade, a low-density sauger population and fewer freshwater drum since 2018. Nine-year-old walleye from the 2016 year class were the most common age among males sampled on the Wolf in spring 2025.

Common questions

When do walleye spawn on the Wolf?

It varies with water level and temperature. In 2025 the DNR saw spawning pick up on April 1, while the New London gauge stayed above 7 feet from April 1 to May 12.

What is the walleye limit on the Wolf River?

Three walleye, sauger and hybrids a day in total, no minimum length, only one sauger or hybrid, open all year (Winnebago System rules, 2026-27).

Can I fish for lake sturgeon?

Not with hook and line: it is closed all year on Winnebago System waters. Spearing has its own Winnebago System regulations.

Is fishing good at Wolf River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Lake Poygan17 miShawano Lake30 miLake Winnebago31 miGreen Bay38 miBig Green Lake42 miLake Puckaway50 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04079000 β€” Wolf River at New London
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.3922, -88.7404 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.