BirdTrout
Johnson Drain, Michigan
14.7 mapped river miles, draining 49 square miles across Washtenaw, Wayne counties, in the Detroit subbasin watershed. A USGS gauge stands in it, but its record is too short for a measured July mean, so what this page knows about its temperature is today's reading and 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 10.0 miles away, at Lower River Rouge At Wayne — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — it has sent no water temperature for 3253 days, since 1 November 2017, so no number here comes from it.
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: 04166700.
The character of the water
A medium stream in the Detroit subbasin, 14.7 mapped miles across Washtenaw and Wayne counties, fifth order, draining 49.4 square miles at a median width of 14.0 feet. MDNR types only 2.4 miles, 16 percent coverage: a 0.3-mile Cool reach between river miles 7.2 and 6.9 at high gradient, and a 2.1-mile Cold-transitional reach from river mile 6.8 down to 3.3 at medium gradient. MDNR classes the valley segment, not the water, so no measured temperature exists; the nearest gauge sits on the stream itself, 0.0 miles off. Type 1 regulation covers 13.0 miles, last Saturday in April through September 30th, five fish with no more than three trout 15 inches or greater. Brown trout were planted at five sites from 1992, the last through 2013. Middle River Rouge, 22.4 miles, is the water it enters at river mile 0.0. Seven public land units total 1,219 acres. No access sites or launches, and no survey covers it.
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 7.2–6.9 | 0.3 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
| RM 6.8–3.3 | 2.1 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 2.4 of the 14.7 miles NHD carries for this stream — 16% of it. The typed water splits 2.1 mi cold-transitional, 0.3 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
- Johnson Drain fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish Johnson Drain — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to Johnson Drain — access, parking and public land
- Johnson Drain fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is Johnson Drain good for brown trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 13.0 of the 14.7 mapped miles; 1.7 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 13.0 mi |
RM 14.7–1.3 | 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" |
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
7 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 1,219 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Cass Benton Parkway | City | 654 |
| 7 Mile Road Park | — | 345 |
| Linear Park | — | 137 |
| Northville West Recreation Area | — | 43 |
| Coldwater Springs Nature Area | — | 16 |
| Fish Hatchery Park | — | 14 |
| River Park | Northville Parks and Recreation | 11 |
Species
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Brown trout. The most recent plants are Brown trout at Napier Road (Wayne Co., through 2013); Brown trout at Hatchery Park (Wayne Co., through 2013); Brown trout at Five Mile Road (Washtenaw Co., through 2011).
Hatches on this water
47 insects are recorded from southern 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 |
| Hendrickson Ephemerella subvaria |
April–May | 45–58°F | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis Chimarra atterima |
April–May | 46–58°F | #16–20 |
| Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae |
May–September | 55–75°F | #8–14 |
| Crayfish Orconectes spp. |
May–October | 55–78°F | #4–8 |
| Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca |
May–July | 55–68°F | #12–16 |
| Little Sulphur Ephemerella dorothea |
May–July | 50–62°F | #16–20 |
And 33 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
3 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Middle River Rouge 22.4 mi · RM 0.0
- Walled Lake Branch 10.5 mi · RM 1.3
- Sump Drain 4.8 mi · RM 4.5
Johnson Drain sits in HUC 8 04090004, the Detroit subbasin, and drains 49 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 29 NHD reaches carry the name for 14.7 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.