BirdTrout
North Branch Pine River, Michigan
12.9 mapped river miles, draining 48 square miles, in the Manistee River watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 13.4 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 13.4 miles away, at Pine River Near Hoxeyville — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
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: 04125460.
The character of the water
A medium stream of 12.9 mapped miles in the Manistee River watershed, third order, draining 48.33 square miles at a median width of 14.0 feet; the NHD line agrees at 12.86 miles. It meets the Pine River at river mile 0.0, where the East Branch also enters, and takes Fairchild Creek at river mile 6.4 and Spalding Creek at river mile 9.3. MDNR types only 2.6 miles, 20 percent coverage, all of it Cold stream at medium gradient between river mile 11.2 and 3.6. That class describes the valley segment rather than the water, so no measured temperature exists; the nearest gauge, the Pine River near Hoxeyville, is 13.4 miles away. Regulation is Type 1 over 12.4 miles, last Saturday in April through September 30th, artificial lures and all types of natural bait permitted. Four public land units total 76,463 acres. No access sites, no stocking, no survey and no county are recorded for this water.
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 11.2–3.6 | 2.6 | cold | Cold stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 2.6 of the 12.9 miles NHD carries for this stream — 20% 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 Pine River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the North Branch Pine River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the North Branch Pine River — access, parking and public land
- North Branch Pine River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 12.4 of the 12.9 mapped miles; 0.5 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 12.4 mi |
RM 12.9–0.0 | 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. Pine River (BR 44), 1.6 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: Juncture of North and East Branch of Pine; downstream: Tippy Pond.
Public land on the river
3 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 76,423 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 49,904 |
| Manistee National Forest - Cadillac Ranger District | United States Forest Service | 25,547 |
| White Pine Trail State Park | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 972 |
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
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
4 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Pine River 53.5 mi · RM 0.0
- East Branch Pine River 8.4 mi · RM 0.0
- Fairchild Creek 6.7 mi · RM 6.4
- Spalding Creek 4.8 mi · RM 9.3
North Branch Pine River sits in HUC 8 04060103, the Manistee River watershed, and drains 48 square miles, Strahler order 3 at the mouth. 34 NHD reaches carry the name for 12.9 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.