BirdTrout
West Branch Iron River, Michigan
22 mapped river miles, draining 35 square miles, in the Black-Presque Isle subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 11.6 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 live reading
The nearest gauge is 11.6 miles away, at Presque Isle River — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
A medium stream in the Black-Presque Isle subbasin, 21.5 mapped miles at a median width of 14.3 feet, third order, draining 34.53 square miles. Regulation splits it: 15.6 miles are Type 3, open January 1st through December 31st, and 4.9 miles are Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th. Both allow artificial lures and all types of natural bait, creel 5 fish with no more than 3 trout 15 inches or greater. MDNR types 2.3 miles, 11 percent, both typed reaches at high gradient: cold-transitional from river mile 15.6 to 14.0, cool from 8.5 to 4.8. That class describes the valley segment, not the water; no temperature is measured here, the nearest gauge 11.6 miles off. The Big Iron River is the receiving water at river mile 0.0. Texas Creek enters at 18.0, Eden Creek at 16.2, McFarland Creek at 6.3. Three public units total 124,223 acres. Counties, surveys, stocking and access sites are not covered by the record.
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 15.6–14.0 | 0.7 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · high gradient |
| RM 8.5–4.8 | 1.6 | cool | Warm transitional stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 2.3 of the 21 miles NHD carries for this stream — 11% of it. The typed water splits 1.6 mi cool, 0.7 mi cold-transitional. 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 Iron River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the West Branch Iron River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the West Branch Iron River — access, parking and public land
- West Branch Iron River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 20.5 of the 21.5 mapped miles; 1.0 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 4.9 mi |
RM 21.5–16.2 | 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 15.6 mi |
RM 16.2–0.0 | 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, 124,223 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Ottawa National Forest - Bergland Ranger District | United States Forest Service | 63,597 |
| Porcupine Mountains | Michigan DNR | 51,740 |
| Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 8,886 |
Species
No species records for this water 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
16 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Big Iron River 27.5 mi · RM 0.0
- Eden Creek 5.4 mi · RM 16.2
- McFarland Creek 4.5 mi · RM 6.3
- Chipping Creek 3.1 mi · RM 6.6
- Texas Creek 3.0 mi · RM 18.0
- Crowned Creek 2.8 mi · RM 14.0
- Bessemer Creek 2.5 mi · RM 17.1
- Loggerhead Creek 2.4 mi · RM 1.4
- Doe Creek 2.4 mi · RM 15.6
- Song Creek 2.2 mi · RM 18.4
- Redstart Creek 2.0 mi · RM 19.4
- Towhee Creek 1.9 mi · RM 18.0
West Branch Iron River sits in HUC 8 04020101, the Black-Presque Isle subbasin, and drains 35 square miles, Strahler order 3 at the mouth. 33 NHD reaches carry the name for 21.4 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.