BirdTrout
Black River, Michigan
41 mapped river miles, draining 252 square miles, in the Black-Presque Isle subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 15.7 miles away, and what this page knows about its temperature is MDNR's classification of the water itself.
50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands, breaking at 58, 64 and 70°F, that the app paints. Grey is water nobody has measured.
The nearest live reading
The nearest gauge is 15.7 miles away, at Presque Isle River — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
The Black River is the longest water in this set, 41.1 mapped miles in the Black-Presque Isle subbasin matching 41.11 in the NHD, 25.9 feet wide at the median and draining 251.81 square miles at Strahler order 5. Three regulation types divide it: 15.9 miles of Type 1 and 21.4 miles of Type 2, both open the last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 0.7 miles of Type 3 open January 1st through December 31st, all allowing artificial lures and natural bait under a 5 fish creel with no more than 3 trout 15" or greater. MDNR types 16.1 miles, 39 percent, as Cool from river mile 38.1 to 1.1, a warm transitional stream on high gradient; no measured temperature exists, and the Presque Isle River gauge is 15.7 miles off. Eight public land units total 82,000 acres, including 4,302 acres of Black, Michigan Wild and Scenic River. No access sites or launches are listed.
Thermal classification
MDNR types this water from its valley, not from a thermometer in it. A class, not a temperature — no July mean, because none was measured here.
| Reach | Typed miles | Band | MDNR type |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM 38.1–1.1 | 16.1 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 16.1 of the 41 miles NHD carries for this stream — 39% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, cool. The untyped reaches are not warm water — they are water MDNR's inventory does not reach, and the mile ranges above span only the reaches it does.
Questions about this river
- Black River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Black River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Black River — access, parking and public land
- Black River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 38.0 of the 41.1 mapped miles; 3.1 miles carry no type in this dataset. Always check the current Michigan Fishing Guide before you fish — this is a copy, and the Guide is the rule.
| Type | Where | Season | Minimum sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Type 1 15.9 mi |
RM 39.1–22.6 | Last Saturday in April–September 30th | Brook trout 7", Brown trout 8", Rainbow trout / steelhead 10", Lake trout 10", Chinook salmon 10", Coho salmon 10", Pink salmon 10", Atlantic salmon 10" |
|
Type 2 21.4 mi |
RM 22.6–0.7 | Last Saturday in April–September 30th | Brook trout 10", Brown trout 12", Rainbow trout / steelhead 10", Lake trout 10", Chinook salmon 10", Coho salmon 10", Pink salmon 10", Atlantic salmon 10" |
|
Type 3 0.7 mi |
RM 0.7–0.0 | January 1st–December 31st | Brook trout 15", Brown trout 15", Rainbow trout / steelhead 10", Lake trout 10", Chinook salmon 10", Coho salmon 10", Pink salmon 10", Atlantic salmon 10" |
Creel across all types: 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.
Public land on the river
7 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 81,989 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 34,078 |
| Ottawa National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 29,354 |
| Local Forest | County | 12,902 |
| Black, Michigan Wild and Scenic River | DESG | 4,302 |
| Iron County Forest | Iron County | 903 |
| Black River Dam | Michigan DNR | 318 |
| Molessa County Park | — | 131 |
Species
No species records for this water in the files this site reads.
Hatches on this water
42 insects are recorded from the Upper Peninsula, which is the region this river sits in. That is a claim about the region and not a survey of this stream: nobody has recorded which of them has been caught here. Open the river in the app and the hatch panel will narrow it to the ones whose temperature window today's reading is inside.
| Insect | Peak | Water | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish Eggs Other |
October–January and April | 33–60°F | #10–16 |
| Little Black Stonefly Allocapnia / Capnia spp. |
January–April | 34–46°F | #16–18 |
| Little Brown Stonefly Taeniopteryx / Strophopteryx spp. |
February–April | 38–50°F | #12–16 |
| Blue-Winged Olive Baetis spp. |
March–May and September–November | 38–58°F | #16–22 |
| Blackfly Simulium spp. |
April–June | 40–65°F | #18–22 |
| Cranefly Tipula spp. |
April–June and September–October | 40–65°F | #6–10 |
| Grannom Brachycentrus spp. |
April–May | 48–58°F | #14–16 |
| Green Rock Worm / Green Weenie Rhyacophila spp. |
April–June and September–October | 45–68°F | #10–14 |
| Hendrickson Ephemerella subvaria |
April–May | 45–58°F | #12–14 |
| Alderfly Sialis spp. |
May–June | 52–66°F | #10–14 |
| Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae |
May–September | 55–75°F | #8–14 |
| Crayfish Orconectes spp. |
May–October | 55–78°F | #4–8 |
| Giant Black Stonefly (Salmonfly) Pteronarcys dorsata |
May–June | 50–62°F | #4–6 |
| Green Sedge Rhyacophila spp. |
May–August | 48–64°F | #12–16 |
And 28 more — the year-round records, mostly: midges, scuds and sculpins, which are in the water every day and are therefore never the news.
Tributaries and watershed
24 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Jackson Creek 22.6 mi · RM 20.6
- Little Black River 19.6 mi · RM 22.1
- McDonald Creek 14.6 mi · RM 33.0
- Powder Mill Creek 9.3 mi · RM 16.3
- Montowibo Creek 8.4 mi · RM 12.4
- Sand Island Creek 7.7 mi · RM 3.8
- Devils Creek 6.0 mi · RM 29.6
- Narrows Creek 5.7 mi · RM 11.3
- Sapsucker Creek 4.7 mi · RM 12.9
- Palms Creek 4.2 mi · RM 31.3
- Abitosse Creek 4.1 mi · RM 19.4
- Kallander Creek 3.9 mi · RM 17.6
Black River sits in HUC 8 04020101, the Black-Presque Isle subbasin, and drains 252 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 63 NHD reaches carry the name for 41.1 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.