BirdTrout
West Branch Big Creek, Michigan
19.2 mapped river miles, draining 78 square miles, in the Au Sable River watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 4.0 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 6.3 miles away, at South Branch Au Sable River Near Luzerne — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — it reported on only 16 of the last 30 days, 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: 04136000.
The character of the water
A medium stream in the Au Sable River watershed, 19.2 mapped miles with 33.8 miles in the NHD network, a median width of 18.6 feet, a 78.33-square-mile drainage, and third-order Strahler ranking. Type 1 regulations cover 18.7 miles, open the last Saturday in April through September 30th, artificial lures and all types of natural bait permitted, with a creel of 5 fish, no more than 3 trout 15 inches or greater, and zero Arctic grayling. Of that, 8.1 miles fall inside the West and East Branches Big Creek blue ribbon designation, running from Townline Road on the West Branch to the North Branch Au Sable. MDNR typing reaches only 16 percent, 5.5 miles in all: 0.2 mile warm at the top, 1.0 mile cool between river miles 16.2 and 15.2, and 4.3 miles cold. No temperature has been measured here; the Au Sable River near Red Oak gauge lies 4.0 miles away. Six public units total 295,138 acres. No access sites or launches are listed.
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 19.2–19.1 | 0.2 | warm | Warm stream · medium gradient |
| RM 16.2–15.2 | 1.0 | cool | Warm transitional stream · medium gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 4.3 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 5.5 of the 34 miles NHD carries for this stream — 16% of it. The typed water splits 4.3 mi cold, 1.0 mi cool, 0.2 mi warm. 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
- West Branch Big Creek fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish West Branch Big Creek — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to West Branch Big Creek — access, parking and public land
- West Branch Big Creek fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 18.7 of the 19.2 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 18.7 mi |
RM 19.2–0.0 | 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. West and East Branches Big Creek (BR 21), 8.1 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: East Branch: County Line, West Branch: Townline Road; downstream: N. Branch AuSable, N. Branch AuSable.
Public land on the river
6 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 295,139 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Grayling Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 130,704 |
| Roscommon Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 103,956 |
| Mackinaw State Forest - Gaylord Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 33,636 |
| Gaylord Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 14,353 |
| Kirtland Warbler Unit Lovells | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 9,904 |
| Kirtlands Warbler Wildlife Management Area | United States Fish and Wildlife Service | 2,585 |
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
2 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
West Branch Big Creek sits in HUC 8 04070007, the Au Sable River watershed, and drains 78 square miles, Strahler order 3 at the mouth. 51 NHD reaches carry the name for 33.8 miles in total — more than the 19.2 miles of drawn mainstem, because NHD counts side channels and braids as their own reaches.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.