BirdTrout
Intermediate River, Michigan
36 mapped river miles, draining 145 square miles, in the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 5.9 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 gauge, and why there is no reading from it
The nearest gauge, 5.9 miles away at Jordan River Near East Jordan, Mi, is not reporting water temperature: USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all. A stopped gauge repeats its last value in silence, so there is no live temperature here. Nor is there a model to put in its place: that gauge has too little record to fit one, and this site does not print a temperature it cannot stand behind.
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: 04127800.
The character of the water
A medium stream in the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin, 35.5 mapped miles at a median width of 22.2 feet, fifth order, draining 145.45 square miles. Regulated water is short against that length: 6.8 miles of Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 1.7 miles of Type 4, open year round, with Bellaire Dam to the M-88 bridge closed April 1st through May 14th. Both allow artificial lures and all types of natural bait. MDNR types 5.3 miles, 15 percent: cold from river mile 27.9 to 26.5 at medium gradient, then cool from 24.4 down to 13.9 at very low gradient. That class describes the valley segment, and no temperature is measured here; the nearest gauge is 5.9 miles away. The Grass River and Grass Creek meet it at the mouth, river mile 0.0. Taylor Creek enters at 30.3, Skinner Creek at 18.3, Cedar River at 2.8. Eleven public units total 54,944 acres. No access sites, surveys or stocking are on record.
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 27.9–26.5 | 0.3 | cold | Cold stream · medium gradient |
| RM 24.4–13.9 | 5.0 | cool | Warm transitional stream · very low gradient |
MDNR has classified 5.3 of the 35 miles NHD carries for this stream — 15% of it. The typed water splits 5.0 mi cool, 0.3 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
- Intermediate River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Intermediate River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Intermediate River — access, parking and public land
- Intermediate River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 8.5 of the 35.5 mapped miles; 27.0 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 6.8 mi |
RM 35.5–28.5 | 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 1.7 mi |
RM 2.7–0.9 | 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.
Type 4: Closed to fishing from April 1 - May 14: Bellaire Dam to Highway M-88 Bridge.
Public land on the river
11 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 54,944 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Gaylord Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 53,985 |
| Bauer Nature Preserve | Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy | 299 |
| St. Clair - Six Mile Lake Nature Preserve | — | 272 |
| Grass River Natural Area | County | 174 |
| Nathan Beem Memorial Nature Preserve | — | 105 |
| Pleasant Valley Bible Camp | — | 87 |
| Richardi Park | — | 9 |
| Wilson Lake Boating Access Site | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 5 |
| Wooden Shoe Park | — | 3 |
| Thurston Park | — | 2 |
Species
No species records for this water in the files this site reads.
Hatches on this water
53 insects are recorded from northern 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 |
| 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 |
| Little Black Caddis Chimarra atterima |
April–May | 46–58°F | #16–20 |
| 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 |
And 39 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
17 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Cedar River 11.6 mi · RM 2.8
- Grass River 8.0 mi · RM 0.0
- Taylor Creek 7.5 mi · RM 30.3
- Grass Creek 7.5 mi · RM 0.0
- Skinner Creek 5.6 mi · RM 18.3
- Vonstraten Creek 4.7 mi · RM 14.7
- Ogletree Creek 4.1 mi · RM 13.2
- Saint Clair Creek 3.2 mi · RM 19.8
- Smith Creek 2.5 mi · RM 26.5
- Hitchcock Creek 2.5 mi · RM 32.1
- Openo Creek 2.2 mi · RM 6.1
- Fisk Creek 2.1 mi · RM 6.8
Intermediate River sits in HUC 8 04060105, the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin, and drains 145 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 74 NHD reaches carry the name for 35.5 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.