Pine River

Type
Freestone river, Michigan (Midwest)
Designation
Blue Ribbon
USGS gauges
1 live
Guides
2 nearby
Shops
3 nearby

Today on the Pine River

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

The Pine River is a freestone river in Michigan, listed as Blue Ribbon by Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

More about the Pine River

1 USGS gauge on the water reports flow. 2 guides and 3 shops nearby are listed here; the nearest destination hub is Baldwin & the Pere Marquette.

Updated · Sources: Blue Ribbon Trout Streams, USGS Water Data

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

Pine River is a freestone river in Michigan. Our destination hub Baldwin & the Pere Marquette is 21 mi away in a straight line and lists it among its waters. Michigan has 9 waters named Pine River in the USGS Geographic Names Information System; this page is the stream whose mouth is in Manistee County, the one the agency list names.

Flow now at the gauge
Reading the gauges…

Follow Pine River for flow alerts

Pick one of its USGS gauges and hear from us when the flow moves into or out of its usual range for the date, or crosses a flow you set. We check the public USGS reading every 2 hours and email only when it crosses, at most once every 6 hours. Flow alone is not a fishing forecast or a safety call.

Follow this water

Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.

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.

Pine River on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Pine River: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

Map of Pine River with 1 USGS gauge, and shops and guides with an exact address within 40 miles.

Restrooms near Pine River

Restrooms near Pine River

Restrooms within 2 miles of Pine 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.

Map of 3 restrooms near Pine River

Skip the map; every place is in the list below

Map of 3 restrooms near Pine River, numbered as in the list, with the water’s point marked.

  1. Restroom

    1.5 mi away in a straight line
    • Vault or pit toilet (mapped)

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  2. Restroom

    1.6 mi away in a straight line
    • Vault or pit toilet (mapped)

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  3. Restroom

    1.6 mi away in a straight line
    • Vault or pit toilet (mapped)

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

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 Pine River

  • Canoeists on the Pere Marquette River in autumn, between colourful woodsBlue Ribbon
    Photo credit

    The Pere Marquette River in autumn, Manistee National Forest. Photo: Yetiwriter, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Pere Marquette River

    Michigan · about 31 mi

    Brown trout & steelhead

  • The shallow, clear Boardman River flowing between spruce and pine near Traverse CityBlue RibbonRepresentative photo · not Little Manistee 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 Little Manistee River.

    Little Manistee River

    Michigan · about 11 mi

  • The Manistee River curving around a wooded island below forested hillsBlue RibbonRepresentative photo · not Bear Creek
    Photo credit

    The Manistee River, Michigan. Photo: Eric Schmuttenmaer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Bear Creek.

    Bear Creek

    Michigan · about 18 mi

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

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

    Big Sable River

    Michigan · about 21 mi

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

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

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

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

    Middle Branch River

    Michigan · about 31 mi

Sources Michigan where to fishOverture Maps places (guide map points)

Where the map point comes from

Position: the USGS gauge PINE RIVER AT HIGH SCHOOL BRIDGE NR HOXEYVILLE, MI.

The map shows USGS gauges (tap one for its flow reading), and shops and guides within 40 miles that publish a street address on their own website. Everyone else is in the lists below.

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.

Whole Pine River, not only this reach.

Length
53.5 mi (48.7 in MI)
Drains
248 sq mi
Drop
411 ft · 7.7 ft/mi
Flows into
Manistee River
Watershed
Manistee

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 2026-11-05) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped channel of the whole Pine River. 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.

8.8 of 48.7 mi on public land

  • Cadillac State Forest AreaState Department of Natural Resources · 6.7 mi
  • Manistee National ForestForest Service · 2 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near Pine 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

  • River Chasing Guide Service

    Wellston, MI · 10 mi

    Lake & stillwater · Beginners & lessons · Manistee River

    • Unclaimed

    Nearby

  • Cast Away Guide Service

    Baldwin, MI · 24 mi

    Drift boat · Multi-day trips · Pere Marquette & Muskegon

    • Unclaimed

    Nearby

3 shops nearby

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. After them, fly-focused guides within 40 miles whose website does not name it. 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

What 2 nearby guide websites mention: what guides advertise, not a survey or a promise of what you will catch.

Named on 2 nearby guide websites

  • Brown trout2
  • Northern pike2
  • Steelhead2
  • Chinook salmon1
  • Coho salmon1
  • Rainbow trout1
  • Smallmouth bass1
  • Walleye1

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)

How we put this together

Named by guides nearby (within 40 miles), counted from the species each guide lists on its own site. No agency page we hold lists species for this water.

Baldwin & the Pere Marquette

About this

Baldwin is the Lake County seat in the Manistee National Forest, on the upper Pere Marquette River, which flows west to Lake Michigan at Ludington; the Little Manistee rises to the north, the Pine and the White are to the north-east and south, and the Muskegon runs below Croton Dam to the south-east.

Destination hub · 21 mi away in a straight line

Gear checklist

About this

A steelhead and salmon fly-fishing checklist: a switch or spey rod (or 9′6″ single-hand) in 7–8 weight, Skagit lines and sink tips, swing flies, studded boots and cold-weather layers, with estimated prices and where to buy.

An angler wades the Deschutes River and casts, dry canyon slopes behind

Steelhead & salmon

11′–13′6″ two-hand rod, 7–8 weight, Skagit head + sink tips · Steelhead and Pacific salmon

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 Pine River.

No stories from here yet.

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 12 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: the USGS gauge PINE RIVER AT HIGH SCHOOL BRIDGE NR HOXEYVILLE, MI. Water type is our own classification.