BirdTrout
Lincoln River, Michigan
7.9 mapped river miles, draining 103 square miles, in the Pere Marquette-White subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 19.3 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 19.3 miles away, at Little Manistee River — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
Only 7.9 mapped miles long but draining 103.26 square miles, this is a fifth-order channel that exists mostly as the short trunk below two much longer branches: the North Branch at 25.9 miles and the South Branch at 13.0 miles both enter at river mile 7.9, at the head of the mapped water. Median width is 26.9 feet. Type 3 regulation covers 4.8 miles, open January 1st–December 31st, artificial lures and all types of natural bait allowed, with a creel of 5 fish and no more than 3 trout 15 inches or greater. MDNR types 2.1 miles, 27 percent of the length, as Cool water of the Warm transitional small river type with low gradient, from river mile 7.0 to 2.8; the class describes the valley segment, not the water, and no gauge measures this river — the nearest is 19.3 miles away. No access sites, launches or stocking record are on file.
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 7.0–2.8 | 2.1 | cool | Warm transitional small river · low gradient |
MDNR has classified 2.1 of the 7.8 miles NHD carries for this stream — 27% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, 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
- Lincoln River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Lincoln River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Lincoln River — access, parking and public land
- Lincoln River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 4.8 of the 7.9 mapped miles; 3.1 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 3 4.8 mi |
RM 7.9–2.8 | 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, 84,399 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| West Michigan Underwater Preserve | — | 84,246 |
| Cartier Park | City of Ludington | 119 |
| Memorial Tree Park | Pere Marquette Charter Township | 34 |
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
3 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- North Branch Lincoln River 25.9 mi · RM 7.9
- South Branch Lincoln River 13.0 mi · RM 7.9
- Burr Creek 2.2 mi · RM 5.2
Lincoln River sits in HUC 8 04060101, the Pere Marquette-White subbasin, and drains 103 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 15 NHD reaches carry the name for 7.8 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.