Share your catch
US

Ontonagon River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Porcupine Mountains river: the Ontonagon runs steelhead and salmon into Lake Superior’s wild shore.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
512 cfs
Air / High
75 / 75 F
Wind
SW 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04040000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Ontonagon River rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. The river is running 512 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1021 hPa and a high of 75. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:32 AM-12:32 PM and 10:56 PM-12:56 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Tomorrow: Similar at 74 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Michigan requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $26.00 for residents. What a Michigan licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Michigan, read off the agency, are on the Michigan seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Ontonagon River near Rockland.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04040000.

495522548512 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 84 years of October 23

At 512 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04040000 (Ontonagon River near Rockland) is at the 15th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 84 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 824 cfs; the highest was 7,130 cfs and the lowest 301 cfs.

p10 472median 824p90 2,085

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04040000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp75 F
High / Low75 / 54 F
WindSW 7-11 mph
Pressure1020.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain19% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset08:26 / 18:55
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Ontonagon River this week

The best day on Ontonagon River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:32 AM-12:32 PM and 10:56 PM-12:56 AM
Minor period
4:55 AM-5:55 AM
Sun
08:26 to 18:55
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
1%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Ontonagon River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Ontonagon River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Ontonagon River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 68 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 70 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Michigan requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Michigan license plus all-species validation for salmon and steelhead. Seasons vary by reach: check current DNR regulations.

Access

Ontonagon town access at the mouth; road crossings and forest roads on the branches.

About this water

A river system draining the western Upper Peninsula to Lake Superior at Ontonagon, Ontonagon County, Michigan.

Fishing Ontonagon River: the full guide

A river of branches

The Ontonagon River drains the western Upper Peninsula through four branches that join before reaching Lake Superior at Ontonagon, near the Porcupine Mountains. The lower river hosts runs of steelhead, chinook and coho salmon from Superior, while the branches hold resident brook and brown trout, smallmouth bass and northern pike in remote forest country.

Steelhead and salmon

Steelhead run in spring and fall, with the spring run drawing anglers to the lower river below the dam and through the town of Ontonagon. Salmon arrive in fall. The river runs high and colored with rain and snowmelt, so timing matters: the falling limb after a rise offers the best conditions, as on most Superior tributaries.

Trout in the branches

The east, middle, south and west branches all hold resident trout in cold forest water, with brook trout the prize in the smaller tributaries. Access is remote and often requires walking. Smallmouth and pike hold the warmer lower reaches. The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park nearby adds inland lakes and streams to explore.

Ontonagon County logistics

Access is via the town of Ontonagon at the mouth, road crossings on the branches, and forest roads through state and commercial land. Services are limited: Ontonagon and Silver City provide basics. This is genuinely remote country with long distances between towns and no cell coverage in much of the drainage.

Common questions

When is the steelhead run?

Spring is the stronger draw, with a fall run as well: fish the falling water after a rise for the best conditions.

Are the branches worth exploring?

Yes: resident brook and brown trout in remote forest water, though access often requires walking.

How remote is it?

Genuinely: long distances between towns, limited services and no cell coverage in much of the drainage.

Is fishing good at Ontonagon River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Lake Gogebic22 miTurtle-Flambeau Flowage63 miBois Brule River108 miChippewa Flowage111 miNamekagon River114 miLac Courte Oreilles115 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04040000 — Ontonagon River near Rockland
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 46.7500, -89.3200 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.