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Michigan Trout Fishing Regulations 2026

4 MDNR regulation types, 2,029 named waters and 22,200 classified stream segments — MDNR's own data, compiled here so you can search it.

Last updated 2026-09-24 · rebuilt nightly from MDNR data

931 of these waters have a full BirdTrout page with live water temperature, access and public land.

Fishing this week? The Michigan fishing report carries live water temperatures from every reporting gauge in the state, updated hourly, broken down by region.

Season dates

MDNR's own season text, by MDNR regulation type. A stream's season is the one attached to its class, not a single statewide date.

MDNR regulation type Open to fishing May be kept
Type 1 Last Saturday in April–September 30th Last Saturday in April–September 30th
Type 2 Last Saturday in April–September 30th Last Saturday in April–September 30th
Type 3 January 1st–December 31st January 1st–December 31st
Type 4 January 1st–December 31st Last Saturday in April for Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon. January 1st for all other Trout and Salmon.–September 30th for Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon. December 31st for all other Trout and Salmon.

Minimum sizes by species

Minimum size in inches, by regulation type. MDNR sets the minimum per species per type, so the same fish is legal at 7 inches on one stream and 10 on the next.

Species Type 1Type 2Type 3Type 4
Brook trout 7″ 10″ 15″ 7″
Brown trout 8″ 12″ 15″ 10″
Rainbow trout / steelhead 10″ 10″ 10″ 10″
Splake 10″ 10″ 10″ 10″
Lake trout 10″ 10″ 10″ 10″
Chinook salmon 10″ 10″ 10″ 10″
Coho salmon 10″ 10″ 10″ 10″
Pink salmon 10″ 10″ 10″ 10″
Atlantic salmon 10″ 10″ 10″ 10″

MDNR regulation types

Every class MDNR uses, the waters in it, and what the class means. Counts are of named waters in our copy of the state's data.

Type 1 1,960 named waters · 21,592 segments

Season
Last Saturday in April–September 30th
Daily limit
5 fish, with no more than 3 trout 15“ or greater. Zero (0) Arctic Grayling.
Tackle
Artificial lures and all types of natural bait may be used.
Minimum size
Brook trout 7″, Brown trout 8″, Rainbow trout / steelhead 10″, Splake 10″, Lake trout 10″, Chinook salmon 10″, Coho salmon 10″, Pink salmon 10″, Atlantic salmon 10″
Designated
21,592 of 21,592 segments are designated trout stream

The rule above is the one 96% of this class runs under. 15 waters in this class carry a tighter variant — those are under special regulations.

All 1,960 named waters

Type 2 14 named waters · 32 segments

Season
Last Saturday in April–September 30th
Daily limit
5 fish, with no more than 3 trout 15“ or greater. Zero (0) Arctic Grayling.
Tackle
Artificial lures and all types of natural bait may be used.
Minimum size
Brook trout 10″, Brown trout 12″, Rainbow trout / steelhead 10″, Splake 10″, Lake trout 10″, Chinook salmon 10″, Coho salmon 10″, Pink salmon 10″, Atlantic salmon 10″
Designated
32 of 32 segments are designated trout stream

The rule above is the one 94% of this class runs under. 2 waters in this class carry a tighter variant — those are under special regulations.

All 14 named waters

Type 3 59 named waters · 102 segments

Season
January 1st–December 31st
Daily limit
5 fish, with no more than 3 trout 15“ or greater. Zero (0) Arctic Grayling.
Tackle
Artificial lures and all types of natural bait may be used.
Minimum size
Brook trout 15″, Brown trout 15″, Rainbow trout / steelhead 10″, Splake 10″, Lake trout 10″, Chinook salmon 10″, Coho salmon 10″, Pink salmon 10″, Atlantic salmon 10″
Designated
73 of 102 segments are designated trout stream

The rule above is the one 59% of this class runs under. 14 waters in this class carry a tighter variant — those are under special regulations.

All 59 named waters

Type 4 133 named waters · 474 segments

Season
January 1st–December 31st
May keep
Last Saturday in April for Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon. January 1st for all other Trout and Salmon.–September 30th for Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon. December 31st for all other Trout and Salmon.
Daily limit
5 fish, with no more than 3 trout 15“ or greater. Zero (0) Arctic Grayling.
Tackle
Artificial lures and all types of natural bait may be used.
Minimum size
Brook trout 7″, Brown trout 10″, Rainbow trout / steelhead 10″, Splake 10″, Lake trout 10″, Chinook salmon 10″, Coho salmon 10″, Pink salmon 10″, Atlantic salmon 10″
Designated
387 of 474 segments are designated trout stream

The rule above is the one 64% of this class runs under. 24 waters in this class carry a tighter variant — those are under special regulations.

All 133 named waters

Blue Ribbon trout streams

MDNR's official Blue Ribbon list — 47 rivers, 789 miles. A designation on top of a regulation rather than a fifth type: a Blue Ribbon stretch still carries whatever Type it carries.

RiverMilesDesignated stretch
Main Branch AuSable River 63.7 Upper Section: Luzerne Co. Pk., Lower Section: Alcona Line to Upper Section: Co. 612, Lower Section: Mio Dam
Pere Marquette River 43.4 Indian Bridge to Broadway Road (USFS Road 5132)
Pine River 42.1 Tippy Pond to Juncture of North and East Branch of Pine
Manistee River 37.4 Junction with North Branch Big Manistee to Deward Area
Black River 33.2 Cheboygan/Presque Isle County Line to McKinnon's Bend
Little Manistee River 33.0 Manistee Co. Line to County Road 633
Sturgeon River 27.8 Burt Lake to Sturgeon Valley Road
Pigeon River 25.9 M-68 to T32N, R2W, Sec. 25-26
North Branch AuSable River 25.0 Main Branch AuSable to Dam No. 2
Two Hearted River 24.2 Junction with East Branch Two Hearted River to T48N, R12W, Sec. 12
Middle Branch Ontonagon River 23.6 Upper Section: Ontonagon Co. Line, Lower Section: M-28 to Upper Section: R45N, R39W, Sec. 19, Lower Section: Bond Falls
South Branch AuSable River 20.9 Main Branch AuSable to Roscommon
Boardman River 19.3 T26N, R11W, Sec. 3 to Junction with N. & S. Branches
Clam River 18.7 Turnville Road to Wexford Co. Line
East Branch Tahquamenon River 17.9 T46N, R7W, Sec. 9 (near Buckhorn Camp) to Strongs Center
Ford River 17.4 Henderson to T43N, R30W, Sec 15
East Branch Black River 17.1 Junction with Black River, Main Branch to T31, R1E, Sec. 26
Middle, West, and East Branches Big Creek 17.0 Main Branch AuSable, Main Branch AuSable to West Branch: Junction with Hunt Creek, East Branch: T25N, R2E, Sec. 6
Paint River 16.0 Gibbs City to USFS Road 149
Fox River 15.6 Seney to Spring Pond
East Branch Ontonagon River 15.5 Sparrow Rapids to Lower Dam Falls
Brule River 13.5 M-189 to M-73
Bear Creek 12.9 Nine Mile Road to Junction with 3rd Creek
Big Sable River 12.8 USFS Road 5205 to USFS Road 51199
West Branch Sturgeon River 12.7 M-38 to W. Br. Sturgeon Falls; Sturgeon River to Wildnerness Road
Baldwin Creek 12.4 Pere Marquette River to 24th Street
Fence River 11.1 T45N, R13W, Sec. 35 to Junction with E. Branch
East Branch AuGres River 10.7 Whittemore Road to Junction of Hale Creek and Smith Creek
Little South Branch Pere Marquette River 10.5 Pere Marquette River to Curtis Bridge
North Branch Boardman River 10.3 T26N, R9W, Sec. 4 to Junction with Crafton Creek
White River 10.2 Baseline Road at White Cloud to USFS Road 5276
Canada Creek 9.4 Cheboygan County Line to Junction with Montague Creek
Iron River 9.2 Iron River to Raft Lake
West and East Branches Big Creek 8.7 N. Branch AuSable, N. Branch AuSable to East Branch: County Line, West Branch: Townline Road
Hunt Creek 8.1 Thunder Bay River to Research Station
Cedar River 8.0 Bellaire to Stover Pond; Bard Road (Gladwin Co.) to Junction with Mid Br.
Jordan River 8.0 Charlevoix Co. Line to Junction wtih Green River
Gilchrist Creek 8.0 Thunder Bay River to Branch of Greasey Creek
Platte River 7.8 Honor to Maple City Road
Boyne River 7.3 North Branch: T32N R5W Sec 8, Main Branch: T32N R5W Sec8 to North Branch: Hudson Rd, Main Branch: Metros Rd
South Branch Boardman River 7.1 T26N, R9W, Sec. 4 to Boardman River Road
East Branch AuSable River 7.0 Main Branch AuSable to Lewiston Grade Road
North Branch Manistee River 7.0 Junction with Big Manistee to Mecum Road
East Branch Fox River 5.9 Luce County Line to M-77
Middle Branch River 5.8 Marion Pond to T20N, R7W, Sec.19
Maple River 5.6 Cheboygan Co. Line to Maple River Dam
Cooks Run 4.6 Paint River to US-2

Special regulations

Water carrying a rule of its own — a closure, a gear restriction, or a named regulation — with the water it applies to.

Recent changes

Nothing has moved since the previous build. This page is rebuilt nightly against MDNR's data and this section fills in the night a season, a limit or a classification changes.

Coldwater and warmwater rules

A designated trout stream carries the trout-stream season and creel above. Water that is not designated falls under Michigan's statewide inland rules for the species in it — 116 of the 22,200 typed segments here are not designated, and they carry a type without carrying the designation.

Trout fishing near a town in Michigan

The same classification, asked the other way round: what MDNR classifies as trout water within forty miles of one place, ranked by how much of it is in range. 60 towns in Michigan have one — a town is on this list when the water near it is not the water near a bigger town down the road.

Licence and the official documents

We do not reproduce MDNR's licence pages or its digest. These are the originals.

Verify before you fish. This page is our best-effort compilation from Michigan Department of Natural Resources data, rebuilt nightly and current as of 2026-09-24. It is not legal advice and it is not the regulation. Emergency orders, in-season changes and the stretches an agency describes in words rather than in data will not all be here. Check the current rules at MDNR before fishing, and tell us what is wrong here — hello@birdtrout.com.
Open the trout map →Every trout stream near you, with the regulation that applies drawn on it.