BirdTrout
East Branch Ontonagon River, Michigan
59 mapped river miles, draining 280 square miles, in the Ontonagon subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 17.9 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 17.9 miles away, at Sturgeon River (Baraga) — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The pills above go to USGS. These are this site's pages for the same gauges — a thirty-day chart, the monthly means, the record, and today's reading against the five-year normal for today: 04041500.
The character of the water
A river in the Ontonagon subbasin, 59.2 mapped miles at sixth order, draining 280.11 square miles at a median width of 34.0 feet. Blue Ribbon designation covers 15.6 miles, from Lower Dam Falls down to Sparrow Rapids. Regulation splits between 17.6 miles of Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 39.1 miles of Type 3 open year-round, five fish with no more than three trout 15 inches or greater. MDNR types 9.6 miles, 16 percent coverage: 1.0 typed mile of Cold at high gradient between river miles 59.0 and 48.4; 8.0 typed miles of Cold-transitional, cold transitional small river at low gradient, from river mile 37.9 to 8.3; and 0.6 typed miles of Cool between 6.4 and 1.5. The class describes the valley segment, not the water, so no measured temperature exists; the nearest gauge, on the Sturgeon River in Baraga, is 17.9 miles off. Six public land units total 81,541 acres. No access sites, no stocking, no survey.
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 59.0–48.4 | 1.0 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
| RM 37.9–8.3 | 8.0 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional small river · low gradient |
| RM 6.4–1.5 | 0.6 | cool | Warm transitional small river · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 9.6 of the 59 miles NHD carries for this stream — 16% of it. The typed water splits 8.0 mi cold-transitional, 1.0 mi cold, 0.6 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
- East Branch Ontonagon River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the East Branch Ontonagon River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the East Branch Ontonagon River — access, parking and public land
- East Branch Ontonagon River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 56.7 of the 59.2 mapped miles; 2.5 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 17.6 mi |
RM 59.2–40.7 | 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 39.1 mi |
RM 40.7–0.0 | 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.
Blue Ribbon. East Branch Ontonagon River (BR 8), 15.6 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: Lower Dam Falls; downstream: Sparrow Rapids.
Public land on the river
6 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 81,541 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Ontonagon, Michigan Wild and Scenic River | DESG | 34,412 |
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 26,607 |
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 18,899 |
| Military Hill Purchase Unit | U.S. Forest Service | 1,619 |
| Military Hills Roadside Park | — | 2 |
| Sparrow-Kenton Wayside Picnic Area | — | 1 |
Species
Trout water by MDNR's classification, which types it cold-transitional — a statement about the water's temperature, not a fish record. No MDNR survey or stocking record for this river is 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
23 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Middle Branch Ontonagon River 70.7 mi · RM 0.0
- Ontonagon River 32.9 mi · RM 0.0
- Beaver Creek 19.3 mi · RM 31.9
- Jumbo River 14.2 mi · RM 37.9
- Adventure Creek 13.1 mi · RM 7.8
- Stony Creek 11.6 mi · RM 44.8
- Newholm Creek 11.3 mi · RM 8.3
- Tank Creek 7.1 mi · RM 6.9
- Bond Creek 6.3 mi · RM 9.9
- Smith Creek 6.2 mi · RM 46.7
- Porterfield Creek 6.0 mi · RM 12.3
- Spargo Creek 5.8 mi · RM 42.6
East Branch Ontonagon River sits in HUC 8 04020102, the Ontonagon subbasin, and drains 280 square miles, Strahler order 6 at the mouth. 114 NHD reaches carry the name for 59.1 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.