Spring Creek · Limestone · Wisconsin, US

Coon Creek

Coon Creek venue image

The crown jewel of Wisconsin spring creeks and the watershed Timber Coulee feeds into — the place where coordinated stream restoration in America more or less began, back in the 1930s.

Tomorrow · Not the day for it
Scud
Forecast · Tomorrow
Not the day for it
Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
45% projected
Today's fly
Scud
Scud
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Proxy gauge
Level
Rising
Proxy
via West Fork Kickapoo River
Water temp16.9°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather24°C
WindN 14 km/h
Pressure1013 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead7.7 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from West Fork Kickapoo River. The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
17°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
terrestrials
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 7am

12pm(now) — Grasshopper (Eastern)

Stage: Terrestrials on topApproach: Dry flyActivity: 40%
Also:Trico (Eastern)34%Reed Smut33%
Peak emergence windowWeather boostEmergence building5 food groups active

Peak activity at 7am — Trico (Eastern) (Trico (Eastern), Degree-days at peak)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
1
SulphurHatch
2
3
2
Trico (Eastern)Hatch
2
3
3
2
Eastern Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Eastern Summer BWO (Drunella)Hatch
2
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Local fly shops: Driftless Angler
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • WI DNR Driftless regulations — verify reach class and gear rules.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Timber Coulee Creek
7.0 km
Brown trout · Brook trout
Bad Axe River
20 km
0
Brown trout · Brook trout
West Fork Kickapoo River
22 km
0
Brown trout · Brook trout
Rush Creek
28 km
Brown trout · Brook trout
Tainter Creek
29 km
Brown trout · Brook trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The crown jewel of Wisconsin spring creeks and the watershed Timber Coulee feeds into — the place where coordinated stream restoration in America more or less began, back in the 1930s. There's paved, barrier-free access at Veterans Memorial Park in Coon Valley, which is a rare and welcome thing on a trout stream. Wild browns, a few brookies up top, and the whole valley smells of cut hay in summer.

  • Limestone
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Supporting
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Coon Creek' (WI10010414), 2024 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Fully Supporting. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · WI10010414

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 83 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity65 × 12%7.8
Conditions total= 83
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via West Fork Kickapoo Riverproxy
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout First Saturday in January (early catch-and-release, artificial only) → October 15 (regular harvest season from first Saturday in May)
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts