BirdTrout
Middle Branch Escanaba River, Michigan
54 mapped river miles, draining 230 square miles, in the Escanaba 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
This gauge stands in the Middle Branch Escanaba 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: 04057801.
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 53.5–48.8 | 1.8 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
| RM 45.6–41.2 | 4.4 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · low gradient |
| RM 39.6–0.0 | 23.3 | cool | Warm transitional stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 29.5 of the 53 miles NHD carries for this stream — 55% of it. The typed water splits 25.1 mi cool, 4.4 mi cold-transitional. 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
- Middle Branch Escanaba River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Middle Branch Escanaba River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Middle Branch Escanaba River — access, parking and public land
- Middle Branch Escanaba River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 50.4 of the 53.5 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 1 50.4 mi |
RM 51.7–0.0 | 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
5 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 186,947 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Gwinn Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 159,228 |
| Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (South) | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 19,924 |
| Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 3,897 |
| Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit (North) | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 3,897 |
| East Branch Of Escanaba River | Michigan DNR | 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
10 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Escanaba River 52.2 mi · RM 0.0
- Black River 18.6 mi · RM 28.4
- Green Creek 17.9 mi · RM 4.6
- East Branch Escanaba River 14.8 mi · RM 0.0
- West Branch Middle Branch Escanaba River 12.1 mi · RM 26.8
- Halfway Creek 7.0 mi · RM 45.3
- Second River 6.2 mi · RM 45.6
- Klippel Creek 6.1 mi · RM 49.9
- Flopper Creek 5.8 mi · RM 13.7
- Bell Creek 3.6 mi · RM 32.6
Middle Branch Escanaba River sits in HUC 8 04030110, the Escanaba subbasin, and drains 230 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 56 NHD reaches carry the name for 53.4 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.