Encore Post: The Fish Story of Gordon-St Croix Flowage — Gordon, Wisconsin

This encore post is in honor of this cabin I’ve just listed on the north shore of the St Croix Flowage, also known as the Gordon Flowage. At 1,913 acres, and with 29 miles of meandering shoreline, the Gordon Flowage is one of the largest, least developed lakes anywhere in northwestern Wisconsin. The Flowage is located near near Gordon, Wascott, and Solon Springs, and is just west of U.S. Highway 53. For your enjoyment, I’ve ended this post with some fresh photos taken at various points around the lake.

Here’s the fish story:

Mainly Panfish, Northerns, and Bass
You’re most likely to catch sunfish, crappies, northern pike, and largemouth bass. The Flowage also contains smaller numbers of muskies, smallmouth bass, bullheads, carp, and dogfish.

Stocking History
From 1937 to 1963, the Flowage was stocked regularly with a variety of species—everything from catfish to walleyes. No stocking occurred from 1963 to 2000. Since then, the Flowage has been stocked roughly every other year with both sturgeon and muskies. Despite these various stocking efforts, the Flowage has proven most suited for panfish, northern pike, and largemouth bass.

Preserve the Resource
On days when the fishing is almost too good, please use restraint. Here on the Flowage, the DNR especially encourages voluntary catch-and-release of bluegills and crappies. And, while you may encounter some large largemouths in the Flowage, at this latitude they take many years to reach that size. Please preserve the resource.

Preserve Your Lower Unit
Here on the Flowage, you’ll encounter a few stumps, plus plenty of shallow, rocky reefs. That sort of structure makes for great fishing. It can, however, be rough on boat motors.
In the interest of boating safety, our lake association has marked many of these hazards—but not all. If you’re unfamiliar with the Flowage, you may want to keep your speed down, carry a few extra shear pins, and keep an eye out for obstacles.