BirdTrout
Torch River, Michigan
20 mapped river miles, draining 399 square miles, in the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 15.6 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 gauge, and why there is no reading from it
The nearest gauge, 15.6 miles away at Jordan River Near East Jordan, Mi, is not reporting water temperature: USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all. A stopped gauge repeats its last value in silence, so there is no live temperature here. Nor is there a model to put in its place: that gauge has too little record to fit one, and this site does not print a temperature it cannot stand behind.
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: 04127800.
The character of the water
A river by size class with a large basin behind it, 399.31 square miles at Strahler order 5, yet only a median 18.9 feet wide across 20.0 mapped miles. MDNR types 6.1 miles, river mile 19.7 down to 2.1, as Cool, calling it a warm transitional large river on very low gradient; that is 30 percent coverage, and because the class applies to the valley segment rather than the water, no measured temperature exists here. The nearest gauge, JORDAN RIVER NEAR EAST JORDAN, MI, sits 15.6 miles off. Only 2.1 miles carry regulation, Type 4, open January 1st through December 31st, artificial lures and all types of natural bait, creel of 5 fish with no more than 3 trout 15" or greater and zero Arctic Grayling. The Rapid River, 17.0 miles, enters at river mile 1.6 and the Grass River, 8.0 miles, at mile 9.8. Four public units total 23,289 acres; no access sites or launches are mapped.
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 19.7–2.1 | 6.1 | cool | Warm transitional large river · very low gradient |
MDNR has classified 6.1 of the 20 miles NHD carries for this stream — 30% 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
- Torch River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Torch River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Torch River — access, parking and public land
- Torch River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 2.1 of the 20.0 mapped miles; 17.9 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 4 2.1 mi |
RM 2.1–0.0 | 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
4 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 23,289 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Pere Marquette State Forest - Traverse City Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 19,590 |
| Skegemog Lake Wildlife Area | Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy | 3,412 |
| Torch River Ridge: A Cotanche Family Legacy | Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy | 286 |
| Torch River Bridge | Michigan DNR | 1 |
Species
No species records for this water 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
5 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Rapid River 17.0 mi · RM 1.6
- Grass River 8.0 mi · RM 9.8
- Spencer Creek 6.7 mi · RM 5.1
- Wilkinson Creek 5.2 mi · RM 20.0
- Eastport Creek 3.4 mi · RM 20.0
Torch River sits in HUC 8 04060105, the Boardman-Charlevoix subbasin, and drains 399 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 22 NHD reaches carry the name for 20.0 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.