BirdTrout
Montreal River, Wisconsin
22 mapped river miles, draining 98 square miles, in the Bad Montreal basin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 18.7 miles away, and what this page knows about its temperature is Wisconsin DNR'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 18.7 miles away, at Tyler Forks River At Stricker Road Near Mellen, Wi — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
The Montreal is typed over four-fifths of its length — 47.2 of 57.24 NHD miles, 82 per cent — and the classification splits 34.8 miles Cold against 12.4 Cool. Wisconsin DNR designates the water Class II and Class III, managed as wild supplemented and as stocked. There is no gauge in it; the nearest is on the Presque Isle, 22.5 miles away and a different river. The channel is 17.2 feet across at the median, fourth order, draining 98.43 square miles over the 21.5 miles of axis mapped. Public ground is negligible: one county parcel of 2,263 acres fronting four-hundredths of a mile. Seven named tributaries come in along the length, the longest Laymans Creek at 14.2 miles entering at the head, with Whitney Creek at 16.4 and five shorter ones below.
Thermal classification
Wisconsin DNR's classification of this water, reach by reach. A class, not a temperature — no July mean, because none was measured here.
| Reach | Typed miles | Band | Wisconsin DNR type |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM 21.5–10.7 | 21.4 | cold | — |
| RM 10.7–0.0 | 12.4 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 13.4 | cold | — |
Wisconsin DNR has classified 47.2 of the 57 miles NHD carries for this stream — 82% of it. The typed water splits 34.8 mi cold, 12.4 mi cool. The untyped reaches are not warm water — they are water Wisconsin DNR's inventory does not reach, and the mile ranges above span only the reaches it does.
Questions about this river
- Montreal River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Montreal River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Montreal River — access, parking and public land
- Montreal River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the Montreal River good for brook trout?
- Is the Montreal River good for brown trout?
Wisconsin DNR classification
Wisconsin DNR classifies this water as Class II and Class III. More than one class appears because the classification changes along the river. The thermal bar above shows where. The management tier on those reaches is stocked, wild supplemented. This is a designation of the fishery, not the season and creel rules — those change yearly and live with the agency.
WDNR trout stream classification →
Public land on the river
1 unit of public or open-access land touches this river, 2,263 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| County Land | county land | 2,263 |
Species
WDNR has stocked brook trout into this water 6 times between 2015 and 2020. That is a stocking record rather than a survey — it says the fish were put in, not that a survey has found them since.
WDNR has stocked brown trout into this water once, in 2021. That is a stocking record rather than a survey — it says the fish were put in, not that a survey has found them since.
Hatches on this water
42 insects are recorded from northern Wisconsin, 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 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 |
| Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca |
May–July | 55–68°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.
- Laymans Creek 14.2 mi · RM 21.5
- Welch Creek 7.5 mi · RM 3.1
- Whitney Creek 3.3 mi · RM 16.4
- Spring Creek 2.7 mi · RM 1.9
- Whiskers Creek 2.5 mi · RM 11.7
- Cominski Creek 2.4 mi · RM 5.5
- Kaari Creek 2.3 mi · RM 3.4
Montreal River sits in HUC 8 04010302, the Bad Montreal basin, and drains 98 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 80 NHD reaches carry the name for 57.2 miles in total — more than the 21.5 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.