BirdTrout
West Branch Sturgeon River, Michigan
34 mapped river miles, draining 60 square miles, in the Sturgeon subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 5.2 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 5.2 miles away, at Sturgeon River (Baraga) — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
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: 04041500.
The character of the water
Thirty-four mapped miles of medium stream in the Sturgeon subbasin, 33.96 by NHD measure, a median 13.5 feet wide, draining 59.78 square miles at Strahler order 5. Of that, 6.2 miles carry Blue Ribbon designation, from W. Br. Sturgeon Falls downstream to M-38. Type 1 regulation covers 31.9 miles, last Saturday in April through September 30th, artificial lures and all types of natural bait permitted, creel 5 fish. MDNR types two reaches: 0.4 miles from river mile 33.4 to 32.5 as Cool, warm transitional on medium gradient, and 3.1 miles from mile 30.2 to 15.6 as Cold, a cold stream on high gradient. That is 3.5 typed miles, 10 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 Sturgeon River at Baraga, is 5.2 miles off. Greenier Creek, 12.2 miles, enters at mile 16.3. One public unit, the Ottawa National Forest's Ontonagon Ranger District, covers 33,152 acres.
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 33.4–32.5 | 0.4 | cool | Warm transitional stream · medium gradient |
| RM 30.2–15.6 | 3.1 | cold | Cold stream · high gradient |
MDNR has classified 3.5 of the 34 miles NHD carries for this stream — 10% of it. The typed water splits 3.1 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
- West Branch Sturgeon River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the West Branch Sturgeon River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the West Branch Sturgeon River — access, parking and public land
- West Branch Sturgeon River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 31.9 of the 34.0 mapped miles; 2.1 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 31.9 mi |
RM 34.0–0.0 | 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 Branch Sturgeon River (BR 11), 6.2 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: W. Br. Sturgeon Falls; downstream: M-38.
Public land on the river
1 unit of public or open-access land touches this river, 33,152 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Ottawa National Forest | United States Forest Service | 33,152 |
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.
- Sturgeon River 98.3 mi · RM 0.0
- Greenier Creek 12.2 mi · RM 16.3
- Mill Creek 5.2 mi · RM 10.6
- Perjury Creek 4.6 mi · RM 18.6
West Branch Sturgeon River sits in HUC 8 04020104, the Sturgeon subbasin, and drains 60 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 71 NHD reaches carry the name for 34.0 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.