BirdTrout
East Branch Whitefish River, Michigan
16.6 mapped river miles, draining 78 square miles, in the Tacoosh-Whitefish subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 24.1 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 24.1 miles away, at Escanaba River — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
Sixteen and six-tenths mapped miles in the Tacoosh-Whitefish subbasin, a medium stream 10.1 feet wide at the median draining 77.5 square miles at Strahler order 4. Two regulation types split it: 13.3 miles of Type 1, open from the last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 2.9 miles of Type 4 open January 1st through December 31st, the Type 4 creel allowing five fish with no more than three trout 15 inches or greater and no more than one Rainbow Trout. MDNR types 4.7 miles, 28 percent of the length, splitting it into a low-gradient cold stream from river mile 16.2 to 11.4 and a 0.6-mile cool segment between 10.8 and 1.1 typed as warm transitional. Those classes describe the valley segment, not the water, and there is no measured temperature here; the nearest gauge, on the Escanaba River, sits 24.1 miles away. Public land runs to 36,534 acres in two units, but no access sites, walk-in access or launches are recorded.
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 16.2–11.4 | 4.1 | cold | Cold stream · low gradient |
| RM 10.8–1.1 | 0.6 | cool | Warm transitional stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 4.7 of the 16.6 miles NHD carries for this stream — 28% of it. The typed water splits 4.1 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 Whitefish River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the East Branch Whitefish River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the East Branch Whitefish River — access, parking and public land
- East Branch Whitefish River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 16.2 of the 16.6 mapped miles; 0.4 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 16.6–2.9 | 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 4 2.9 mi |
RM 2.9–0.0 | 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
2 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 36,534 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha National Forest | United States Forest Service | 21,417 |
| Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (South) | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 15,117 |
Species
Trout water by MDNR's classification, which types it cold — 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
5 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- West Branch Whitefish River 32.2 mi · RM 0.0
- Dexter Creek 16.0 mi · RM 11.4
- Whitefish River 11.9 mi · RM 0.0
- Spring Creek 5.9 mi · RM 10.3
- Davies Creek 5.1 mi · RM 6.4
East Branch Whitefish River sits in HUC 8 04030111, the Tacoosh-Whitefish subbasin, and drains 78 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 28 NHD reaches carry the name for 16.6 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.