Freestone · Mixed · Wisconsin, US

Pike River (Kenosha)

The Pike is the small Kenosha County river between Chicago and Racine, and in autumn and spring it carries a run of Lake Michigan steelhead, chinook and coho up into Petrifying Springs Park.

Good · Steelhead
Egg pattern · 12–16
Goodlive now
A proper day on the water
River steady at a fishable height. A proper day for it. Work the seams with an upstream nymph, switch to the dry when they show.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.46 mLast reading 10 min ago
  • Water temp14.0°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Egg pattern
Egg pattern12–16
A dependable searching pattern for these waters.
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.46 m
Last reading 10 min ago
Water temp14.0°C
ClarityClear
Weather20°C
WindS 19 km/h
Pressure1019 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.7 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Steelhead
Warm — slow
14°C est.ideal 4–13°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Steelhead
When
Salmon September – October; steelhead October – April after rain
Where
The Pike is the small Kenosha County river between Chicago and Racine, and in autumn and spring it carries a run of Lake Michigan steelhead, chinook and coho…
Why this works
Good — water clarity is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Blackflies
  • Blackfly larvae/pupaeMost likelyLower confidence
    #16–18–20 · Pupa
    Small dark soft-hackle drifted through riffle seams.
Chironomids
Aquatic beetles
Gammarids
Molluscs
  • Pond snailsMost likelyLower confidence
    #10–12–14 · Adult
    Dead-drift or twitch a snail pattern near weed beds.
Oligochaetes
  • Aquatic wormsMost likelyLower confidence
    #12–14–16 · Adult
    Dead-drift a worm pattern deep - a year-round staple.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 9pm

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 6 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 4 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Supporters see what else is on the menu.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

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

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Quill GordonHatch
2
2
Blue QuillHatch
2
3
2
HendricksonHatch
2
2

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

Ranked for today
Steelhead fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Wisconsin Lake Michigan stream rules: 5 trout and salmon, 10 in minimum, ½ in hook-gap limit from 15 Sep, night closures, closed to hook and line on the first Saturday in May
  • Great Lakes stamp required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 2
Root River
11 km
83
Steelhead · Chinook salmon · Coho salmon
Milwaukee River
45 km
67
Steelhead · Chinook salmon · Coho salmon
About this water

The Pike is the small Kenosha County river between Chicago and Racine, and in autumn and spring it carries a run of Lake Michigan steelhead, chinook and coho up into Petrifying Springs Park. It's a modest, warm-in-summer, farm-and-suburb stream, much smaller and less dependable than the Root a few miles north, but it's close and often quiet. A sandbar at the mouth can hold the fish back in a dry autumn, so a good rain is what starts it.

  • Mixed
Conservation note

Lake-run fish only; Wisconsin DNR says Lake Michigan salmonids don't reproduce successfully in its streams. Lake-run browns appear and are not scored. Whether the Pike itself is stocked is not confirmed.

Why this score · for Steelhead
  • Temperature7028% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity9518% weight
  • Feeding Time7013% weight
  • Pressure757% weight
  • Insect activity5812% weight
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts