BirdTrout
Whitefish River, Michigan
11.9 mapped river miles, draining 316 square miles, in the Tacoosh-Whitefish subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 16.0 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 16.0 miles away, at Escanaba River — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
Only 11.9 mapped miles long, but river-sized for all of it: 44.7 feet across at the median, draining 316.31 square miles at Strahler order 5, because the West Branch at 32.2 miles and the East Branch at 16.6 both come in at river mile 11.9 and run together from there. Haymeadow Creek adds another 17.7 miles at river mile 5.8. MDNR types 3.8 miles, 32 percent of the length, as a low-gradient warm large river between river mile 11.9 and 3.3; that class is applied to the valley segment, not the water, and there is no measured temperature for this river. The nearest gauge, on the Escanaba River, lies 16.0 miles away. Type 4 regulations cover 11.3 miles, open January 1st through December 31st, artificial lures and all types of natural bait, five fish with no more than three trout 15 inches or greater and no more than one Rainbow Trout. Public land totals 22,344 acres, including a 927-acre Wild and Scenic corridor.
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 11.9–3.3 | 3.8 | warm | Warm large river · low gradient |
MDNR has classified 3.8 of the 11.9 miles NHD carries for this stream — 32% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, 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.
The lake run
The Whitefish River (Delta County) is a Lake Michigan tributary with 11.7 miles of run corridor on it — salmon, steelhead and lake-run brown trout, on their own calendar and under their own rules. Run timing, species and access on the Whitefish River (Delta County) →
Questions about this river
- Whitefish River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Whitefish River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Whitefish River — access, parking and public land
- Whitefish River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 11.3 of the 11.9 mapped miles; 0.6 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 11.3 mi |
RM 11.9–0.5 | 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 and no more than one (1) Rainbow Trout. Zero (0) Arctic Grayling. Tackle: Artificial lures and all types of natural bait may be used.
Public land on the river
2 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 22,344 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Hiawatha National Forest | United States Forest Service | 21,417 |
| Whitefish, Michigan Wild and Scenic River | DESG | 927 |
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
7 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- West Branch Whitefish River 32.2 mi · RM 11.9
- Haymeadow Creek 17.7 mi · RM 5.8
- East Branch Whitefish River 16.6 mi · RM 11.9
- Chippeny Creek 12.0 mi · RM 4.2
- Bills Creek 8.4 mi · RM 3.2
- Little West Branch Whitefish River 3.3 mi · RM 10.1
- Ten Dollar Creek 1.8 mi · RM 4.7
Whitefish River sits in HUC 8 04030111, the Tacoosh-Whitefish subbasin, and drains 316 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 29 NHD reaches carry the name for 11.9 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.