BirdTrout
Jordan River, Michigan
35 mapped river miles, draining 163 square miles across Antrim, Charlevoix counties, in the Boardman-Charlevoix 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 gauge, and why there is no reading from it
The nearest gauge, 0.0 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
Antrim and Charlevoix county water, a medium stream of 35.1 mapped miles at a median width of 23.8 feet, fifth order, draining 163.05 square miles of the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin. Fourteen and two tenths miles are Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 10.4 miles are Type 4, open January 1st through December 31st; both allow artificial lures and all types of natural bait. Eight miles carry Blue Ribbon designation, from the junction with the Green River down to the Charlevoix County line. MDNR types 3.8 miles, 11 percent, as cold, a cold stream at medium gradient from river mile 29.8 to 10.9; that class describes the valley segment and no temperature is measured here. Lake whitefish and rainbow trout go in at the Charlevoix County site at 6,325.8 per mile through 2026. The Pine River is the receiving water at river mile 0.0. Green River enters at 21.3, Deer Creek at 11.6. Fourteen public units total 84,891 acres.
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 29.8–10.9 | 3.8 | cold | Cold stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 3.8 of the 35 miles NHD carries for this stream — 11% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, 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.
The lake run
The Jordan River is a Lake Michigan tributary with 23.2 miles of run corridor on it — salmon, steelhead and lake-run brown trout, on their own calendar and under their own rules. Run timing, species and access on the Jordan River →
Questions about this river
- Jordan River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Jordan River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Jordan River — access, parking and public land
- Jordan River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the Jordan River good for rainbow trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 24.6 of the 35.1 mapped miles; 10.5 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 14.2 mi |
RM 35.1–20.7 | 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 4 10.4 mi |
RM 20.7–10.2 | 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.
Blue Ribbon. Jordan River (BR 35), 8.0 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: Junction wtih Green River; downstream: Charlevoix Co. Line.
Public land on the river
12 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 84,802 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Gaylord Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 53,985 |
| Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 28,793 |
| Jordan River Natural Area | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 1,570 |
| Rogers Family Homestead Nature Preserve | — | 199 |
| Jordan River National Fish Hatchery | FWS | 102 |
| Public Water Access Site | Michigan DNR | 61 |
| Gladwin Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 37 |
| Jordan River Public Water Access Site | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 32 |
| Dressel Nature Preserve | — | 11 |
| Sportsman's Park | — | 8 |
Species
- Lake whitefish stocked only
- Rainbow trout stocked only
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Lake whitefish, Rainbow trout. The most recent plants are Lake whitefish, Rainbow trout at Jordan River (Charlevoix Co., through 2026); Rainbow trout at Jordan River (Antrim Co., through 2022); Rainbow trout at Jordan River (Antrim Co., through 2009).
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
24 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Pine River 15.5 mi · RM 0.0
- Deer Creek 11.3 mi · RM 11.6
- Monroe Creek 7.1 mi · RM 7.6
- Green River 6.9 mi · RM 21.3
- Mill Creek 4.2 mi · RM 17.5
- Kocher Creek 3.9 mi · RM 18.4
- Bennett Creek 3.9 mi · RM 13.2
- Sear Creek 3.5 mi · RM 4.3
- Sutton Creek 3.5 mi · RM 18.2
- Stevens Creek 3.4 mi · RM 21.8
- Brown Creek 3.1 mi · RM 10.1
- Bartholomew Creek 2.9 mi · RM 14.6
Jordan River sits in HUC 8 04060105, the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin, and drains 163 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 49 NHD reaches carry the name for 35.1 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.