BirdTrout
Middle Branch Ontonagon River, Michigan
71 mapped river miles, draining 363 square miles, in the Ontonagon subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 21.9 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, 21.9 miles away at Ontonagon River, 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 character of the water
A river in the Ontonagon subbasin, 70.7 mapped miles at seventh order, draining 363.01 square miles at a median width of 34.8 feet. Blue Ribbon designation covers 23.6 miles in two sections, the upper from R45N, R39W, Sec. 19 to the Ontonagon County line and the lower from Bond Falls to M-28. Regulation splits between 38.9 miles of Type 2, last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 26.8 miles of Type 3 open year-round. MDNR typing is thin, 3.9 miles at 6 percent coverage, and mixed: Cold at the head between river miles 70.2 and 69.8, Cold-transitional at 65.6 to 63.3 and again at 28.9 to 26.4, and Cool reaches at 52.9 to 52.7 and 19.8 to 2.1, the last of those 3.2 typed miles. MDNR classes the valley segment, not the water: no measured temperature exists; the nearest gauge is 21.9 miles away. Thirteen public land units total 129,381 acres. No access sites, no stocking, no survey.
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 70.2–69.8 | 0.1 | cold | Cold stream · medium gradient |
| RM 65.6–63.3 | 0.1 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · low gradient |
| RM 52.9–52.7 | 0.1 | cool | Warm transitional small river · very low gradient |
| RM 28.9–26.4 | 0.4 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional small river · high gradient |
| RM 19.8–2.1 | 3.2 | cool | Warm transitional small river · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 3.9 of the 71 miles NHD carries for this stream — 6% of it. The typed water splits 3.3 mi cool, 0.5 mi cold-transitional, 0.1 mi 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.
Questions about this river
- Middle Branch Ontonagon River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Middle Branch Ontonagon River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Middle Branch Ontonagon River — access, parking and public land
- Middle Branch Ontonagon River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 65.7 of the 70.7 mapped miles; 5.0 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 38.9 mi |
RM 70.7–38.9 RM 36.2–27.6 |
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 3 26.8 mi |
RM 27.6–0.0 | 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. Middle Branch Ontonagon River (BR 9), 23.6 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: Upper Section: R45N, R39W, Sec. 19, Lower Section: Bond Falls; downstream: Upper Section: Ontonagon Co. Line, Lower Section: M-28.
Public land on the river
13 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 129,381 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Ontonagon, Michigan Wild and Scenic River | DESG | 34,412 |
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 26,607 |
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 18,899 |
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 18,578 |
| Sylvania Wilderness | United States Forest Service | 13,867 |
| Ottawa National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 13,288 |
| Paynesville Purchase Unit | U.S. Forest Service | 1,753 |
| Military Hill Purchase Unit | U.S. Forest Service | 1,619 |
| Agate Falls Scenic Area | — | 211 |
| Bond Falls Scenic Site | — | 97 |
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
27 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- East Branch Ontonagon River 59.1 mi · RM 0.0
- Ontonagon River 32.9 mi · RM 0.0
- Baltimore River 32.6 mi · RM 3.1
- Trout Creek 16.9 mi · RM 20.5
- Spring Creek 12.1 mi · RM 1.6
- Tamarack River 10.4 mi · RM 48.6
- Duck Creek 9.2 mi · RM 57.5
- McGinty Creek 7.5 mi · RM 42.5
- Marathon Creek 5.1 mi · RM 67.7
- Interior Creek 3.9 mi · RM 39.4
- Marion Creek 3.9 mi · RM 52.3
- Cute Creek 3.8 mi · RM 12.1
Middle Branch Ontonagon River sits in HUC 8 04020102, the Ontonagon subbasin, and drains 363 square miles, Strahler order 7 at the mouth. 176 NHD reaches carry the name for 70.7 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.