BirdTrout
Little Cedar River, Michigan
55 mapped river miles, draining 148 square miles, in the Menominee subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 18.0 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, 18.0 miles away at Menominee River, is not reporting water temperature: its water-temperature series is empty, and was last stamped 11 June 2026. A stopped gauge repeats its last value in silence, so there is no live temperature here. What is below is modelled from the years that gauge did report: this gauge's own fitted line, its intercept plus its slope against the 3-day mean air temperature over it, fitted on its own daily record, ±2.8 °F. The shape of the week at that gauge, not a thermometer in this stream.
The character of the water
Fifty-five mapped miles of fourth-order water in the Menominee subbasin, a median width of 22.0 feet, and a 148.3-square-mile drainage reaching the Menominee River at river mile 24.3. The whole classified length reads warm: MDNR types 19.3 miles, 35 percent of the channel, as warm transitional stream at medium gradient, class Cool, running from river mile 54.2 all the way to the mouth. That class describes the valley segment rather than measured water, so there is no temperature for this river; the nearest gauge is 18.0 miles off. Eight tributaries are mapped, the longest Hays Creek at 14.6 miles entering at river mile 13.8, then Poterfield Creek at 10.7 miles and Ross Creek at 9.4. Five public land units total 10,706 acres, almost all of it the Escanaba Management Unit. The data carries no trout regulation type for this river, no survey, and no stocking record, and lists no access sites, walk-in points or launches.
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 54.2–0.0 | 19.3 | cool | Warm transitional stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 19.3 of the 55 miles NHD carries for this stream — 35% 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
- Little Cedar River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Little Cedar River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Little Cedar River — access, parking and public land
- Little Cedar River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Public land on the river
5 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 10,706 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Escanaba Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 10,648 |
| Public Water Access Site | Michigan DNR | 41 |
| Erickson Park | City of Stephenson | 10 |
| Cunard State Roadside Park | Michigan Department of Transportation | 5 |
| Firemen's Park | City of Stephenson | 2 |
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
12 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Menominee River 46.4 mi · RM 0.0
- Hays Creek 14.6 mi · RM 13.8
- Poterfield Creek 10.7 mi · RM 27.1
- Ross Creek 9.4 mi · RM 17.3
- Camp Two Creek 4.3 mi · RM 47.4
- Hugos Brook 4.2 mi · RM 10.9
- Nadeau Creek 3.7 mi · RM 39.0
- Laurin Creek 2.9 mi · RM 32.2
- Little Kelley Creek 2.3 mi · RM 2.3
- Schetter Creek 2.3 mi · RM 28.5
- Snow Creek 1.8 mi · RM 24.9
- Bog Brook 1.0 mi · RM 32.5
Little Cedar River sits in HUC 8 04030108, the Menominee subbasin, and drains 148 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 64 NHD reaches carry the name for 55.0 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.