BirdTrout
North Branch Oconto River, Wisconsin
22 mapped river miles, draining 175 square miles, in the Oconto basin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 30.7 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 30.7 miles away, at Red River At Morgan Road Near Morgan, Wi — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
The North Branch of the Oconto is typed almost end to end — 67.7 of 70.15 NHD miles, 97 per cent — and the classification splits 48.8 miles Cold against 18.9 Cool. On coverage that complete the split describes the river rather than the file, though these pages cannot say which end each class falls on. Wisconsin DNR designates the water under all three of its classes, managed as wild, wild supplemented and stocked. There is no gauge in it; the nearest is on the Oconto, 37.8 miles off. The channel is 22.9 feet across at the median, fourth order, draining 174.7 square miles over 21.5 mapped miles — and 20.44 of those run inside the Nicolet National Forest, which is nearly all of it. Five named tributaries come in between river miles 0.5 and 21.5.
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 21.5–0.0 | 36.5 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 16.8 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.3 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.9 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.0 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.6 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 3.1 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.1 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 6.3 | cold | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.5 | cool | — |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.6 | cold | — |
Wisconsin DNR has classified 67.7 of the 70 miles NHD carries for this stream — 97% of it. The typed water splits 48.8 mi cold, 18.9 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
- North Branch Oconto River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the North Branch Oconto River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the North Branch Oconto River — access, parking and public land
- North Branch Oconto River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the North Branch Oconto River good for brook trout?
- Is the North Branch Oconto River good for brown trout?
- Is the North Branch Oconto River good for rainbow trout?
Wisconsin DNR classification
Wisconsin DNR classifies this water as Class I, 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, 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, 744,473 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Nicolet National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 744,473 |
Species
WDNR has stocked brook trout into this water 6 times between 2015 and 2017. 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 6 times between 2015 and 2018. 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 rainbow trout into this water 9 times between 2016 and 2023. 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
6 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- McCaslin Brook 26.3 mi · RM 0.0
- Torpee Creek 8.5 mi · RM 21.5
- Knowles Creek 5.7 mi · RM 13.2
- Snow Falls Creek 4.4 mi · RM 0.5
- Shawano Creek 4.1 mi · RM 19.4
- Battle Creek 3.2 mi · RM 10.8
North Branch Oconto River sits in HUC 8 04030104, the Oconto basin, and drains 175 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 129 NHD reaches carry the name for 70.2 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.