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East Branch Au Sable River

Type
Freestone river, Michigan (Midwest)
Designation
Blue Ribbon
USGS gauges
None listed
Guides
None listed
Shops
2 nearby

Today on the East Branch Au Sable River

No live reading for this water
Why there is no reading

Nothing live is published for this water, so there is no reading or verdict today. The readings section below says what we checked.

Regulations & access Guides & shops

The East Branch Au Sable River is a freestone river in Michigan, listed as Blue Ribbon by Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

More about the East Branch Au Sable River

2 shops nearby are listed here; the nearest destination hub is Grayling & the Au Sable.

Updated · Sources: Blue Ribbon Trout Streams

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

East Branch Au Sable River is a freestone river in Michigan. Our destination hub Grayling & the Au Sable is 7 mi away in a straight line.

No real-time gauge

No real-time gauge on this water. We found no active USGS gauge on East Branch Au Sable River or on its stream system within about 25 miles, and no dam operator publishes data for it. A missing gauge says nothing about the water itself. Find the gauges nearest East Branch Au Sable River

Check any river's flow

About these readings

Nothing live is published for this water; the note below says what we checked.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Michigan where to fish
Restrooms near East Branch Au Sable River

Restrooms near East Branch Au Sable River

Restrooms within 2 miles of East Branch Au Sable River in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.

Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near East Branch Au Sable River

  • The Manistee River curving around a wooded island below forested hillsBlue Ribbon
    Photo credit

    The Manistee River, Michigan. Photo: Eric Schmuttenmaer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Manistee River

    Michigan · about 11 mi

    Brown trout, steelhead & smallmouth bass

  • The Au Sable River curving through green floodplain forest, seen from the Highbanks bluffBlue RibbonRepresentative photo · not North Branch Au Sable River
    Photo credit

    The Au Sable River from the Highbanks, Huron-Manistee National Forests. Photo: Jessica Piispanen / USFWS, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not North Branch Au Sable River.

    North Branch Au Sable River

    Michigan · about 9 mi

  • The Black River flowing dark and smooth through northern forest in Cheboygan CountyBlue RibbonRepresentative photo · not West Branch Big Creek
    Photo credit

    The Black River in Cheboygan County, Michigan. Photo: SweetCanadianMullet, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not West Branch Big Creek.

    West Branch Big Creek

    Michigan · about 11 mi

  • The shallow, clear Boardman River flowing between spruce and pine near Traverse CityBlue RibbonRepresentative photo · not South Branch Au Sable River
    Photo credit

    The Boardman River in the Brown Bridge Quiet Area, near Traverse City. Photo: Phoenix-Five, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not South Branch Au Sable River.

    South Branch Au Sable River

    Michigan · about 13 mi

  • Canoeists on the Pere Marquette River in autumn, between colourful woodsBlue RibbonRepresentative photo · not Middle Branch Big Creek
    Photo credit

    The Pere Marquette River in autumn, Manistee National Forest. Photo: Yetiwriter, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Middle Branch Big Creek.

    Middle Branch Big Creek

    Michigan · about 14 mi

  • The broad Muskegon River near Newaygo between banks of red and orange autumn treesBlue RibbonRepresentative photo · not East Branch Big Creek
    Photo credit

    The Muskegon River near Newaygo, Michigan. Photo: Marc Steensma, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not East Branch Big Creek.

    East Branch Big Creek

    Michigan · about 16 mi

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

Official designation: Blue Ribbon

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water. Listed in the finder under trout.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Length
17.7 mi (16.4 in MI)
Drains
71.2 sq mi
Drop
89 ft · 5 ft/mi
Flows into
Au Sable River
Watershed
Au Sable

Public land along it

About this

Areas the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), public access (U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project, read 2026-11-04) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped channel. Boundaries are mapped, not surveyed. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

4.3 of 16.4 mi on public land

  • Hartwick Pines State ParkState Park and Recreation · 3.2 mi
  • Camp Grayling Military ReservationOther or Unknown Federal Land · 1.1 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near East Branch Au Sable River

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

No guide within 40 miles yet.

All Michigan guides

2 shops nearby

All Michigan shops

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

The hatch and season chart for this water's region.

When the bugs come off

Regional hatch months: Great Lakes
About this chart

2 hatches charted for the region, not measured on this water. From Michigan DNR.

  1. January: no charted hatch
  2. February: no charted hatch
  3. March: no charted hatch
  4. April: no charted hatch
  5. May: no charted hatch
  6. June: 2 charted hatches
  7. July: 1 charted hatch
  8. August: no charted hatch
  9. September: no charted hatch
  10. October: no charted hatch
  11. November: no charted hatch
  12. December: no charted hatch

Hex (Hexagenia) (June to July) · Mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies (June)

Grayling & the Au Sable

About this

Grayling sits at the head of the Au Sable River in northern Lower Michigan, with the upper Manistee River a few miles west and the Boardman River toward Traverse City.

Destination hub · 7 mi away in a straight line

Open the hubPlan a trip here

Gear checklist

About this

What to bring on a guided float fishing trip: rain gear, polarized sunglasses, sun protection, a dry bag and your license. Most guides supply rods and flies. Estimated prices and where to buy.

A woman rows a drift boat while a man stands in the bow and casts

Guided float trip

Usually supplied by the guide; a 9′ 5–6 weight if you bring your own · Trout on most western float rivers

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with East Branch Au Sable River.

No stories from here yet.

Write the first story Share your day

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 8 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: a point on the mapped channel of “East Branch Au Sable River”, halfway along its length in Michigan, from the USGS high-resolution hydrography (NHDPlus HR), read 4 Nov 2026. It marks the water, not a particular access or reach. Water type is our own classification.