BirdTrout
West Branch Firesteel River, Michigan
20 mapped river miles, draining 35 square miles, in the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 11.0 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 15.5 miles away, at Sturgeon River (Baraga) — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all, so no number here comes from it.
The character of the water
Twenty and a half mapped miles of medium stream in the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin, a median 13.2 feet wide, draining 34.6 square miles at Strahler order 5. MDNR types two short reaches on high gradient: 2.0 miles from river mile 20.0 to 17.8 as Cold, and 1.8 miles from mile 11.2 to the mouth as Cool, a warm transitional stream. That is 3.8 typed miles, 19 percent of the length, and the class describes the valley segment rather than the water, so no measured temperature exists here; the nearest gauge, on the Ontonagon River, is 11.0 miles off. Regulation splits: 11.5 miles Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 7.7 miles Type 3, open year-round. Both allow artificial lures and all types of natural bait, with a creel of 5 fish, no more than 3 trout 15" or greater, and zero Arctic Grayling. Four public units total 47,629 acres, led by 32,939 acres of the Copper Country State Forest Baraga Unit.
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 20.0–17.8 | 2.0 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
| RM 11.2–0.0 | 1.8 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 3.8 of the 20 miles NHD carries for this stream — 19% of it. The typed water splits 2.0 mi cold, 1.8 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
- West Branch Firesteel River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the West Branch Firesteel River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the West Branch Firesteel River — access, parking and public land
- West Branch Firesteel River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 19.2 of the 20.5 mapped miles; 1.3 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 11.5 mi |
RM 20.5–8.3 | 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 3 7.7 mi |
RM 8.3–0.0 | January 1st–December 31st | Brook trout 15", Brown trout 15", 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
3 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 47,286 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 | 32,939 |
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 7,524 |
| Ottawa National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 6,822 |
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 Firesteel River 22.4 mi · RM 0.0
- Firesteel River 18.3 mi · RM 0.0
- Silver Creek 15.2 mi · RM 12.8
- Dishinaw Creek 6.7 mi · RM 14.7
West Branch Firesteel River sits in HUC 8 04020103, the Keweenaw Peninsula subbasin, and drains 35 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 32 NHD reaches carry the name for 20.5 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.