BirdTrout
East Branch Firesteel River, Michigan
22 mapped river miles, draining 29 square miles, in the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 12.5 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 16.6 miles away, at Sturgeon River (Baraga) — 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
Narrow for its length, the East Branch Firesteel River runs 22.5 mapped miles at a median width of 11.3 feet, draining 29.08 square miles of the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin at a Strahler order of 4. MDNR typing is sparse, 5.6 miles or 25 percent of the stream: four-tenths of a mile of Cold stream between river miles 21.0 and 20.6, and 5.2 miles of warm transitional water classed Cool from river mile 18.7 down to 5.3, both on high gradient. Those classes describe the valley segment, not measured water, and the nearest gauge is 12.5 miles off. Regulations split the stream, 13.3 miles of Type 1 open from the last Saturday in April through September 30th and 7.6 miles of Type 3 open January 1st through December 31st. No stocking or survey records accompany this water. A single public land unit, the Baraga Unit of the Copper Country State Forest, covers 32,939 acres, and no access sites are mapped.
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 21.0–20.6 | 0.4 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
| RM 18.7–5.3 | 5.2 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 5.6 of the 22 miles NHD carries for this stream — 25% of it. The typed water splits 5.2 mi cool, 0.4 mi cold. 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
- East Branch Firesteel River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the East Branch Firesteel River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the East Branch Firesteel River — access, parking and public land
- East Branch Firesteel River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 20.9 of the 22.5 mapped miles; 1.6 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 13.3 mi |
RM 22.5–8.1 | 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 3 7.6 mi |
RM 8.1–0.0 | 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
1 unit of public or open-access land touches this river, 32,939 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Copper Country State Forest- Baraga Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 32,939 |
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
4 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- West Branch Firesteel River 20.5 mi · RM 0.0
- Black Creek 18.8 mi · RM 13.6
- Firesteel River 18.3 mi · RM 0.0
- Senecal Creek 4.2 mi · RM 14.6
East Branch Firesteel River sits in HUC 8 04020103, the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin, and drains 29 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 33 NHD reaches carry the name for 22.4 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.