BirdTrout
North Branch Pine River, Michigan
7.1 mapped river miles, draining 31 square miles across Isabella, Montcalm counties, in the Pine subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 5.7 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 5.7 miles away, at Wolf Creek At Pine Grove Road Near Vestaburg, Mi — 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: 04154612.
The character of the water
Short and fully typed: 7.1 mapped miles of third-order water at a median width of 17.1 feet, draining 30.74 square miles across Isabella and Montcalm counties in the Pine subbasin. MDNR covers 100 percent of that length with a single classification, cool, a warm transitional stream at low gradient from river mile 7.1 to the mouth. The class describes the valley segment rather than the water, so no measured temperature exists here, and the nearest gauge, 5.7 miles away, reports no July mean. Type 1 regulation covers 6.4 miles, open the last Saturday in April through September 30, with a creel of 5 fish, no more than 3 of them 15 inches or greater. Brook and brown trout were stocked at three sites, all of the records ending in 1981. Two public land units total 2,569 acres, chiefly the Edmore State Game Area at 2,407. No access sites, walk-in sites, or launches are recorded. Thatcher Creek enters at the head.
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 7.1–0.0 | 7.1 | cool | Warm transitional stream · low gradient |
MDNR has classified 7.1 of the 7.1 miles NHD carries for this stream — 100% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, cool. 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
- Is the North Branch Pine River good for brook trout?
- Is the North Branch Pine River good for brown trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 6.4 of the 7.1 mapped miles; 0.7 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 6.4 mi |
RM 6.8–0.0 | 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
1 unit of public or open-access land touches this river, 2,407 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Edmore State Game Area | Michigan DNR - Wildlife Division | 2,407 |
Species
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Brook trout, Brown trout. The most recent plants are Brown trout at Douglass Rd. (Montcalm Co., through 1981); Brook trout at Coe Road (Isabella Co., through 1981); Brook trout at Vandecar River (Isabella Co., through 1981).
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
2 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Pine River 104.2 mi · RM 0.0
- Thatcher Creek 6.5 mi · RM 7.1
North Branch Pine River sits in HUC 8 04080202, the Pine subbasin, and drains 31 square miles, Strahler order 3 at the mouth. 4 NHD reaches carry the name for 7.1 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.