BirdTrout
North Branch Clinton River, Michigan
49 mapped river miles, draining 279 square miles across Macomb county, in the Clinton subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 10.3 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 12.9 miles away, at Clinton River At Sterling Heights — 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 character of the water
Macomb County river, 49.2 mapped miles at a median width of 21.3 feet, sixth order, draining 279.49 square miles of the Clinton subbasin. Type 4 covers 28.8 miles, open January 1st through December 31st, and Type 1 another 17.7 miles from the last Saturday in April through September 30th; both allow artificial lures and all types of natural bait. MDNR types 11.9 miles, 24 percent, as warm, a warm stream at medium gradient running from river mile 42.3 to 0.0. That class describes the valley segment rather than the water, and no temperature is measured here. Stocking is entirely historical: brown trout, rainbow trout and walleye across five sites, the last ending in 2009, all at 0.0 per mile. The Clinton River is the receiving water at river mile 0.0. Newland Drain enters at 33.8, East Pond Creek at 30.2, Coon Creek at 14.0. Nine public units total 2,939 acres, mostly Wolcott Mill Metropark. No 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 42.3–0.0 | 11.9 | warm | Warm stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 11.9 of the 49 miles NHD carries for this stream — 24% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, 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.
Questions about this river
- North Branch Clinton River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the North Branch Clinton River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the North Branch Clinton River — access, parking and public land
- North Branch Clinton River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the North Branch Clinton River good for brown trout?
- Is the North Branch Clinton River good for rainbow trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 46.5 of the 49.2 mapped miles; 2.7 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 17.7 mi |
RM 49.2–30.0 | 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" |
|
Type 4 28.8 mi |
RM 30.0–0.0 | 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" |
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
8 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 2,939 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Wolcott Mill Metropark | Huron-Clinton Metroparks | 2,359 |
| Land | City | 445 |
| Mill Park | City | 46 |
| James B. And Ann V. Nicholson Nature Center | Macomb County | 40 |
| Crystal Diamonds Park | — | 23 |
| Ray Township Hall And Park | City | 16 |
| Almont Community Park | — | 9 |
| Murphy Park | City | 0 |
Species
- Brown trout stocked only
- Rainbow trout stocked only
- Walleye stocked only
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Brown trout, Rainbow trout, Walleye. The most recent plants are Brown trout, Rainbow trout at 33 Mile Rd (Macomb Co., through 2009); Brown trout, Walleye at 26 Mile Rd (Macomb Co., through 1994); Brown trout at Boardman Rd (Macomb Co., through 1991).
Hatches on this water
47 insects are recorded from southern 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 |
| Hendrickson Ephemerella subvaria |
April–May | 45–58°F | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis Chimarra atterima |
April–May | 46–58°F | #16–20 |
| Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae |
May–September | 55–75°F | #8–14 |
| Crayfish Orconectes spp. |
May–October | 55–78°F | #4–8 |
| Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca |
May–July | 55–68°F | #12–16 |
| Little Sulphur Ephemerella dorothea |
May–July | 50–62°F | #16–20 |
And 33 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
19 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Clinton River 83.2 mi · RM 0.0
- Coon Creek 19.6 mi · RM 14.0
- Middle Branch Clinton River 18.1 mi · RM 0.2
- East Pond Creek 15.3 mi · RM 30.2
- Newland Drain 11.3 mi · RM 33.8
- Deer Creek 10.1 mi · RM 12.7
- McBride Drain 8.5 mi · RM 9.3
- Camp Brook Drain 6.0 mi · RM 21.0
- Hart Drain 5.2 mi · RM 7.3
- Apel Drain 4.8 mi · RM 36.8
- Mahaffy Drain 3.5 mi · RM 32.5
- McKay Ditch 3.0 mi · RM 38.7
North Branch Clinton River sits in HUC 8 04090003, the Clinton subbasin, and drains 279 square miles, Strahler order 6 at the mouth. 65 NHD reaches carry the name for 49.2 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.