BirdTrout
North Branch Otter River, Michigan
23 mapped river miles, draining 97 square miles, in the Sturgeon subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 12.9 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 live reading
The nearest gauge is 12.9 miles away, at Pilgrim River At Paradise Rd Nr Dodgeville, Mi — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
Twenty-three and three-tenths mapped miles of medium stream in the Sturgeon subbasin, 22.2 feet wide at the median, draining 96.69 square miles at Strahler order 4. Three public units total 74,062 acres along it, dominated by the 71,213-acre Copper Country State Forest Baraga Unit, with the Baraga Management Unit at 2,810 acres and River Bend Nature Sanctuary at 40; no access sites or launches are recorded. MDNR types 5.4 miles, 23 percent of the length, as a high-gradient cold stream from river mile 19.3 to 5.7. The class applies to the valley segment, not the water: no measured temperature exists here, and the nearest gauge, on the Sturgeon River near Baraga, lies 13.3 miles away. Type 1 regulations cover 21.9 miles, open from the last Saturday in April through September 30th, artificial lures and all types of natural bait, five fish with no more than three trout 15 inches or greater. Eight tributaries feed it, the largest the West Branch Otter River at 23.0 miles.
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 19.3–5.7 | 5.4 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 5.4 of the 23 miles NHD carries for this stream — 23% 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 Otter River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the North Branch Otter River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the North Branch Otter River — access, parking and public land
- North Branch Otter River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 21.9 of the 23.3 mapped miles; 1.4 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 21.9 mi |
RM 23.3–0.0 | 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.
Public land on the river
3 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 74,062 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Copper Country State Forest- Baraga Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 71,213 |
| Baraga Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 2,810 |
| River Bend Nature Sanctuary | Michigan Nature Association | 40 |
Species
Trout water by MDNR's classification, which types it cold — a statement about the water's temperature, not a fish record. No MDNR survey or stocking record for this river is 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
8 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- West Branch Otter River 23.0 mi · RM 0.0
- Otter River 12.7 mi · RM 0.0
- North Branch Bear Creek 9.9 mi · RM 4.6
- Sante River 8.7 mi · RM 14.9
- Ebers Creek 7.6 mi · RM 3.4
- Slates Creek 6.8 mi · RM 20.7
- Bart Creek 6.3 mi · RM 7.0
- Small Bear Creek 5.1 mi · RM 5.7
North Branch Otter River sits in HUC 8 04020104, the Sturgeon subbasin, and drains 97 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 36 NHD reaches carry the name for 23.2 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.