BirdTrout
North Branch Boardman River, Michigan
27 mapped river miles, draining 74 square miles across Kalkaska county, in the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 10.7 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 18.8 miles away, at Manistee River Near Grayling — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all, so no number here comes from it.
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: 04126970.
The character of the water
Kalkaska County water, a medium stream of 27.3 mapped miles at a median width of 16.4 feet, third order, draining 73.68 square miles of the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin. Regulation is nearly continuous: 25.4 miles of Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th, creel 5 fish with no more than 3 trout 15 inches or greater and zero Arctic Grayling. Blue Ribbon designation runs 10.3 miles, from the junction with Crafton Creek to T26N, R9W, Sec. 4. Arctic grayling were stocked here in 2025, a single year at 21.3 per mile. MDNR types 2.8 miles, 10 percent, as cold, a cold small river at medium gradient between river miles 17.5 and 3.8; that class describes the valley segment, and no temperature is measured here. It joins the Boardman River and the South Branch at river mile 0.0. Hauenstein Creek enters at 22.5, Crofton Creek at 11.7. Four public units total 67,457 acres. No access sites or surveys are on record.
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 17.5–3.8 | 2.8 | cold | Cold small river · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 2.8 of the 27 miles NHD carries for this stream — 10% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, 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
- North Branch Boardman River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the North Branch Boardman River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the North Branch Boardman River — access, parking and public land
- North Branch Boardman River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 25.4 of the 27.3 mapped miles; 1.9 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 1 25.4 mi |
RM 27.3–0.0 | 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.
Blue Ribbon. North Branch Boardman River (BR 26), 10.3 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: Junction with Crafton Creek; downstream: T26N, R9W, Sec. 4.
Public land on the river
4 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 67,457 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Traverse City Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 64,085 |
| Sand Lakes Quiet Area | Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park | 3,016 |
| Boardman River | Michigan DNR | 319 |
| Mill Pond Park | — | 37 |
Species
- Arctic grayling stocked only
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Arctic grayling. The most recent plants are Arctic grayling at North Branch Boardman River (Kalkaska Co., through 2025).
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
6 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Boardman River 28.2 mi · RM 0.0
- South Branch Boardman River 13.3 mi · RM 0.0
- Crofton Creek 5.3 mi · RM 11.7
- Failing Creek 3.8 mi · RM 13.4
- Hauenstein Creek 2.8 mi · RM 22.5
- Vipond Creek 1.5 mi · RM 17.4
North Branch Boardman River sits in HUC 8 04060105, the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin, and drains 74 square miles, Strahler order 3 at the mouth. 19 NHD reaches carry the name for 27.3 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.