BirdTrout
Manistee River, Michigan
190 mapped river miles, draining 1,838 square miles across Crawford, Kalkaska, Manistee, Missaukee, Wexford counties, in the Manistee River 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
This gauge stands in the Manistee River. Its record is too short for a July mean, so the class below is MDNR's — but the reading is this water.
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: 04123500.
The character of the water
A sixth-order river draining 1,837.86 square miles: 190.3 mapped miles at a median width of 58.3 feet, through Crawford, Kalkaska, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford counties. MDNR has typed 77.6 miles, 41 percent of the length: cold stream from river mile 189.6 down to 141.2, cold-transitional large river through the long middle from 110.9 to 29.1, warm transitional from 27.2 to 2.5, and warm large river over the final 1.8 miles. Regulations divide it into 101.1 Type 4 miles and 30.1 Type 3 miles, both open January 1st through December 31st, plus 14.2 Type 2 miles open the last Saturday in April through September 30th; the Type 3 water restricts terminal gear from August 1 to November 15. Blue-ribbon designation covers 37.3 miles from the Deward Area to the junction with the North Branch. A 2019 Crawford County survey counted 821 trout per acre and 59 pounds per acre. There are 26 access sites, 24 of them launches. No measured water temperature exists for this river.
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 189.6–141.2 | 12.9 | cold | Cold stream · medium gradient |
| RM 140.9–128.9 | 5.1 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional large river · very low gradient |
| RM 117.2–117.2 | 0.0 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
| RM 110.9–29.1 | 38.7 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional large river · low gradient |
| RM 27.2–2.5 | 19.1 | cool | Warm transitional large river · medium gradient |
| RM 1.8–0.0 | 1.8 | warm | Warm large river · very low gradient |
MDNR has classified 77.6 of the 190 miles NHD carries for this stream — 41% of it. The typed water splits 43.8 mi cold-transitional, 19.1 mi cool, 12.9 mi cold, 1.8 mi warm. 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.
Named stretches
Anglers name parts of this river. These are the names two or more independent sources use; each page says which sources, because a nickname is the one thing on this site that is not a measurement.
- Big Manistee — The Manistee below Tippy Dam, running to Lake Michigan — a different river from the upper, wide and cold-released, and the destination for the salmon and steelhead runs that come in from the lake.
- Flies-Only Water — The upper Manistee between the M-72 crossing and CCC Bridge — cedar-lined, wadeable, and the part of the river the Grayling and Traverse City shops mean by "the upper".
The lake run
The Manistee River is a Lake Michigan tributary with 29.9 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 Manistee River →
Questions about this river
- Manistee River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Manistee River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Manistee River — access, parking and public land
- Manistee River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the Manistee River good for brook trout?
- Is the Manistee River good for brown trout?
- Is the Manistee River good for rainbow trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 145.4 of the 190.3 mapped miles; 44.9 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 2 14.2 mi |
RM 190.3–175.7 | Last Saturday in April–September 30th | Brook trout 10", Brown trout 12", Rainbow trout / steelhead 10", Lake trout 10", Chinook salmon 10", Coho salmon 10", Pink salmon 10", Atlantic salmon 10" |
|
Type 4 101.1 mi |
RM 150.0–58.0 RM 50.9–39.1 |
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" |
|
Type 3 30.1 mi |
RM 32.4–2.8 | 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.
Blue Ribbon. Manistee River (BR 37), 37.3 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: Deward Area; downstream: Junction with North Branch Big Manistee.
Access
26 mapped MDNR access sites within a quarter mile of the water, upstream first: M-72 (RM 166.6), Hole In The Wall (RM 162.7), Hole In The Fence (RM 161.6), Tree Farm (RM 160.5), Yellow Trees Landing (RM 156.8), Burnt Cabin (RM 152.6), Ccc Bridge State Forest Campground (RM 150.0), 4 Mile Bend (RM 148.3), and 18 more. 2 walk-in, 24 boat or canoe launches.
Public land on the river
28 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 375,802 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Traverse City Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 113,281 |
| Cadillac Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 59,656 |
| Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 49,904 |
| Manistee National Forest - Manistee Ranger District | United States Forest Service | 33,473 |
| Au Sable State Forest - Grayling Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 31,565 |
| Pere Marquette State Forest - Traverse City Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 25,982 |
| Cadillac State Forest Area | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 24,323 |
| Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 16,147 |
| Manistee National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 6,918 |
| Kirtland Warbler Unit Manistee | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 5,302 |
Species
MDNR's most recent survey on this river ran in 2019 at Manistee River, Crawford County, in a channel averaging 45.81 feet: brook trout, brown trout, at 821 trout per acre and 59 pounds per acre. MDNR strata: medium, land-locked, wild trout; regulation at the station, type 2.The station has been surveyed in 23 years since 1988.
- Brook trout surveyed
- Brown trout surveyed
- Arctic grayling stocked only
- Channel catfish stocked only
- Chinook salmon stocked only
- Coho salmon stocked only
- Lake sturgeon stocked only
- Lake trout stocked only
- Northern pike stocked only
- Rainbow trout stocked only
- Walleye stocked only
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Arctic grayling, Brook trout, Brown trout, Channel catfish, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Lake sturgeon, Lake trout, Northern pike, Rainbow trout, Walleye. The most recent plants are Brown trout at River Street (Manistee Co., through 2026); Brown trout, Coho salmon, Rainbow trout at Tippy Dam (Manistee Co., through 2026); Brown trout, Rainbow trout at Woodpecker Ck (Manistee Co., through 2026).
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
56 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Little Manistee River 68.6 mi · RM 1.8
- Pine River 53.5 mi · RM 33.9
- Bear Creek 33.1 mi · RM 17.3
- North Branch Manistee River 19.4 mi · RM 140.9
- Silver Creek 17.9 mi · RM 89.8
- Slagle Creek 17.7 mi · RM 43.7
- Hopkins Creek 15.2 mi · RM 110.9
- Big Cannon Creek 15.1 mi · RM 141.2
- Pine Creek 14.9 mi · RM 21.8
- Manton Creek 14.0 mi · RM 98.3
- Cedar Creek 12.5 mi · RM 42.4
- Fletcher Creek 12.1 mi · RM 56.6
Manistee River sits in HUC 8 04060103, the Manistee River watershed, and drains 1,838 square miles, Strahler order 6 at the mouth. 349 NHD reaches carry the name for 190.1 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.