BirdTrout
Silver River, Michigan
25 mapped river miles, draining 70 square miles, in the Dead-Kelsey subbasin watershed. A USGS gauge stands in it, but its record is too short for a measured July mean, so what this page knows about its temperature is today's reading and 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 6.4 miles away, at Falls River Near L'anse, Mi — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — it has sent no water temperature for 4745 days, since 1 October 2013, 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: 04043126.
The character of the water
Twenty-four and nine tenths of mapped miles in the Dead-Kelsey subbasin, a medium stream at a median 14.1 feet wide, draining 69.62 square miles at Strahler order 5. MDNR types 8.4 miles, 34 percent: a short 0.4-mile Cool reach up at river mile 24.3 to 22.5, then 8.0 miles from mile 17.0 down to 1.4 as Cold stream on high gradient. Those classes describe the valley segment rather than the water, so no measured temperature exists here; the nearest gauge, on the Sturgeon River in Baraga, is 16.5 miles off. Type 1 regulation covers 20.2 miles from the last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 3.9 miles are Type 4, open year-round with a creel that permits no more than one Brook Trout, Lake Trout, or Splake of 20" or greater. Two public units total 11,753 acres, led by Copper Country State Forest- Baraga Unit at 10,099.
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 24.3–22.5 | 0.4 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
| RM 17.0–1.4 | 8.0 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 8.4 of the 25 miles NHD carries for this stream — 34% of it. The typed water splits 8.0 mi cold, 0.4 mi 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
- Silver River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Silver River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Silver River — access, parking and public land
- Silver River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 24.1 of the 24.9 mapped miles; 0.8 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 20.2 mi |
RM 24.9–3.9 | 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 3.9 mi |
RM 3.9–0.0 | January 1st–December 31st | Brook trout 20", Brown trout 10", Rainbow trout / steelhead 10", Lake trout 20", 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
2 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 11,753 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 | 10,099 |
| Slate River Forest | The Nature Conservancy | 1,654 |
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
4 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- East Branch Silver River 6.9 mi · RM 11.5
- Dakota Creek 5.8 mi · RM 4.9
- Gomanche Creek 5.6 mi · RM 7.8
- Page Creek 3.5 mi · RM 8.0
Silver River sits in HUC 8 04020105, the Dead-Kelsey subbasin, and drains 70 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 48 NHD reaches carry the name for 24.9 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.