Clam River Fishery Area

The Clam River Fishery Area is a 2,323 acre property in the southeast part of Burnett County, with portions of the property in Roosevelt, Dewey, and Lafollette Townships, presently consisting of seven separate parcels. The premiere wetland habitat on this property is the excellent Clam River trout stream and associated marshes. The uplands consist of aspen, northern hardwood, swamp hardwoods, oak, pine, and numerous old fields and forest openings.

The Clam River is an excellent trout stream of northwestern Wisconsin. The North Fork of the Clam River originates as a small, intermittent stream in Washburn County. It rapidly enlarges in size as it is fed by a number of trout streams including Krantz Creek, the South Fork of the Clam River, Sand Creek, Spencer Creek, Indian Creek, and the two feeder streams from Clam River Springs and Bass Lake Springs.

A total of 5.0 miles of the North Branch and the entire 3.6 miles of the South Branch of the Clam River are class 1 trout water, while 14.0 miles of the stream from the County Hwy H bridge downstream to Spencer Lake is a class 2 trout stream. The Clam River Fishery Area encompasses all of class 1 and class 2 trout waters in Burnett County.

Numerous points of historical interest exist within the Clam River Fishery Area and have been researched by the Burnett County Historical Society [exit DNR]. Probably most notable is the old Arbuckle House and Logging Dam. This house served as a stopping place for travelers along the old Stillwater to La Pointe Mail Road. The Sour Bean, Oxbow, and Forks were three other logging dams that are known to have existed along the North Fork of the Clam River during the earlier logging era. The only known archaeological features within the Clam River Fishery are some Indian burial mounds north of Spencer Lake.

Location/Directions

Clam River Fishery Area includes several parcels along County Highways F, H, and B west of Shell Lake in Burnett County. Best access points can be found off County Highways H or EE, or Heart Lake Road in Roosevelt Township, off County Hwy B or Town Hall Road in Dewey Township, and from Spencer Lake Road in Lafollette Township.