BirdTrout
Clinton River, Michigan
83 mapped river miles, draining 754 square miles across Macomb, Oakland counties, in the Clinton subbasin watershed. A USGS gauge stands in it, but its record is too short for a measured July mean, so what this page knows about its temperature is today's reading and 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 13.2 miles away, at Clinton River At Sterling Heights — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all, so no number here comes from it.
The character of the water
Strahler order 7 and 753.56 square miles of drainage across Macomb and Oakland counties, yet a median width of only 26.8 feet over 83.2 mapped miles. MDNR types 30.6 miles, 37 percent, and the sequence alternates: Cool for 1.2 miles from river mile 82.0 to 74.7, Warm for 3.8 miles to mile 52.0, Cool again for 5.0 miles from 49.3 to 37.4 as a warm transitional small river, then Warm for 20.6 miles from mile 32.6 to the mouth as a warm large river on low gradient. Those classes describe the valley segment, not the water, so no measured temperature exists here despite a gauge sitting on the river at Drayton Plains. Type 4 regulation covers 31.0 miles, open January 1st through December 31st. Stocking is heavy and current: Ryan Road at 3,096.7 per mile and Hamlin Road at 1,380.4 per mile, both running through 2026, along with brown and rainbow trout at Squirrel Road.
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 82.0–74.7 | 1.2 | cool | Warm transitional stream · medium gradient |
| RM 73.3–52.0 | 3.8 | warm | Warm stream · very low gradient |
| RM 49.3–37.4 | 5.0 | cool | Warm transitional small river · medium gradient |
| RM 32.6–0.0 | 20.6 | warm | Warm large river · low gradient |
MDNR has classified 30.6 of the 83 miles NHD carries for this stream — 37% of it. The typed water splits 24.4 mi warm, 6.2 mi 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
- Clinton River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Clinton River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Clinton River — access, parking and public land
- Clinton River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the Clinton River good for brown trout?
- Is the Clinton River good for rainbow trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 31.0 of the 83.2 mapped miles; 52.2 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 4 31.0 mi |
RM 31.7–0.0 | January 1st–December 31st | Brook trout 7", Brown trout 10", 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
66 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 6,662 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Independence Oaks County Park | — | 1,281 |
| River Bend Township Park | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 977 |
| River Bends Park | — | 754 |
| Land | City | 445 |
| Elizabeth Lake Woods | Waterford Parks | 339 |
| Clinton River Oaks Park | Oakland County Parks and Recreation | 282 |
| Holland Ponds | — | 193 |
| Clinton River Park | — | 192 |
| Pontiac Municipal Golf Course | City | 164 |
| Dodge Bros. No. 4 | Michigan DNR | 164 |
Species
- Brown trout stocked only
- Chinook salmon stocked only
- Coho salmon stocked only
- Rainbow trout stocked only
- Walleye stocked only
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Brown trout, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Rainbow trout, Walleye. The most recent plants are Brown trout, Rainbow trout at Squirrel Road (Oakland Co., through 2026); Brown trout at Hamlin Road (Oakland Co., through 2026); Rainbow trout at Ryan Road (Macomb Co., through 2026).
Hatches on this water
47 insects are recorded from southern lower Michigan, 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 |
| Blue Quill Paraleptophlebia adoptiva |
April–May | 44–56°F | #16–18 |
| Cranefly Tipula spp. |
April–June and September–October | 40–65°F | #6–10 |
| Grannom Brachycentrus spp. |
April–May | 48–58°F | #14–16 |
| Hendrickson Ephemerella subvaria |
April–May | 45–58°F | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis Chimarra atterima |
April–May | 46–58°F | #16–20 |
| Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae |
May–September | 55–75°F | #8–14 |
| Crayfish Orconectes spp. |
May–October | 55–78°F | #4–8 |
| Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca |
May–July | 55–68°F | #12–16 |
| Little Sulphur Ephemerella dorothea |
May–July | 50–62°F | #16–20 |
And 33 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
12 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- North Branch Clinton River 49.2 mi · RM 11.3
- Stony Creek 19.6 mi · RM 33.0
- Paint Creek 16.8 mi · RM 34.5
- Red Run 10.8 mi · RM 17.1
- Galloway Creek 9.2 mi · RM 41.6
- Harrington Drain 6.8 mi · RM 10.4
- Old Canal 4.6 mi · RM 31.3
- Cranberry Marsh Drain 3.1 mi · RM 14.7
- Pontiac Creek 2.7 mi · RM 49.3
- Newth Drain 2.4 mi · RM 18.9
- Kukuk Drain 2.3 mi · RM 14.3
- Faulman Drain 2.2 mi · RM 17.0
Clinton River sits in HUC 8 04090003, the Clinton subbasin, and drains 754 square miles, Strahler order 7 at the mouth. 153 NHD reaches carry the name for 83.2 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.