BirdTrout
East Sleeping River, Michigan
21 mapped river miles, draining 45 square miles, in the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 15.9 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 21.3 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
The East Sleeping River drains 44.83 square miles over 21.3 mapped miles of the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin, a medium stream 16.8 feet wide at the median and Strahler order 4. MDNR typing reaches only 3.4 miles, 16 percent of the length, the thinnest coverage of any stream here: a single mile of Cold stream between river miles 20.8 and 19.8, and 2.4 miles of warm transitional water classed Cool from river mile 11.5 to the mouth, both on high gradient. Those classes describe the valley segment rather than the water, and the nearest gauge sits 15.9 miles away, so no measured temperature applies. Type 1 regulations cover 17.2 miles, open from the last Saturday in April through September 30th, with 3.1 miles of Type 3 open year round; both allow artificial lures and all types of natural bait. No stocking or survey records exist for this river. Three public land units total 44,354 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 20.8–19.8 | 1.0 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
| RM 11.5–0.0 | 2.4 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 3.4 of the 21 miles NHD carries for this stream — 16% of it. The typed water splits 2.4 mi cool, 1.0 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 Sleeping River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the East Sleeping River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the East Sleeping River — access, parking and public land
- East Sleeping River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 20.3 of the 21.3 mapped miles; 1.0 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 17.2 mi |
RM 21.3–3.2 | 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 3.1 mi |
RM 3.2–0.0 | 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
3 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 44,354 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 |
| Baraga State Forest Area | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 6,414 |
| Baraga Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 5,000 |
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
2 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- McCarthy Creek 3.6 mi · RM 0.2
- Red Creek 1.8 mi · RM 19.5
East Sleeping River sits in HUC 8 04020103, the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin, and drains 45 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 31 NHD reaches carry the name for 21.3 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.