Chippewa Flowage Lake Stats
- Acres: 14,593
- Max Depth: 92 feet
- Mean Depth: 15 feet
- Bottom: 60% sand, 20% gravel, 5% rock, 15% muck
- Shore length: 233 miles
- Water Color: Light Brown
- Google Maps Location
Fish Species in the Chippewa Flowage
- Walleye (Abundant)
- Musky (Common)
- Panfish (Common)
- Largemouth Bass (Common)
- Smallmouth Bass (Common)
- Northern Pike (Common)
- Sturgeon (Present)
- Catfish (Present)
Watch us fish the Chippewa Flowage in September
Boat Landings on the Chippewa FLowage
The Chippewa Flowage is huge, and has many boat landings. According to the Wisconsin DNR website, there are six public landings. It would make sense to use the one closest to where you plan to fish.
I’ve only used the landing at Hay Creek. Its located on the north end and is easily accessible if coming from Hayward.
This landing has a nice large area for parking multiple vehicles.
Commentary About the Chippewa Flowage
The Chippewa Flowage is located just 15 miles east of hayward, WI. It is Wisconsin’s third largest lake. It has a 233 mile long shoreline, with 200 undeveloped islands, scenic beauty, and a world class fishery.
In 1923, the damming of the Chippewa River joined 11 natural lakes, 9 rivers and many small streams. It was created to control water flow for power generation and flood control.
Fishing
The Chippewa Flowage is known as a world class fishery, with many people chasing big muskies and walleyes. It also has many other species like northern pike, bass, and panfish, which makes it a fishery for all types of fishermen.
The flowage is famous for producing the world record musky. It was caught in 1949 by Louis Spray. It was a whopping 69 pound fish! People have been trying to beat that record ever since.
Obstacles
This is a flowage, which means the land was flooded, which joined several lakes together as one. This means there are numerous underwater hazards.
The photo above shows the ground going from 7 feet to 1 foot in the matter of seconds. I ended up hitting the prop on the bottom. I was traveling very slowly and shut the motor off immediately, so no harm was done.
If you are not very familiar with this lake, make sure you have good fish finder with lake maps, and watch the bottom carefully.
Camping
There are 18 primitive campsites available for public use. Some are first come, first serve, and others are available by reservation.
This map was available at the boat landing. It shows where the campsites are. The ones circles in red are DNR campsites, and are first come, first serve. The yellow ones are owned by the Lac Courte Oreilles Conservation Department, and are available by reservation.
Fishing Experience on the Chippewa Flowage
I been to the flowage a couple of times, and have covered most of the lake. People come from all around to fish here, but I have to admit, it’s a hard lake to fish! If you are looking for a trophy fish, this is the place to try for one, but for the average fisherman, you might have a tough time finding lots of action.
On my last trip here, this small bass is the only fish I caught. On previous trips here, I have caught a few nice northern pike, but I have yet to catch a muskie here. I have not tried for walleye yet, so I can’t say how the walleye bite is.
We happened to show up the day they were holding the world championship muskie tournament. This made it very difficult to fish. It seemed like all the good spots were already occupied. If you are interested how the tournament guys did, check out the Professional Musky Tournament Trail.
I didn’t feel so bad after reading that some of the worlds best musky fishermen didn’t even catch a musky after 3 days of fishing the flowage. The top few guys caught from 1 to 3 muskies.
This lake is definitely one you should see in your lifetime. You might do alright here, but don’t expect lots of action, unless you are familiar with the lake and know how to fish it. I think this is a beautiful lake, but probably won’t be back anytime soon. There are too many other lakes nearby That I will have much better luck at.
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