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South Branch Black River is a public river in Van Buren County and Allegan County, Michigan, managed by State of Michigan (public / navigable water). You can fish it on a Michigan all-species licence, trout and salmon included. Bank access is at MI DNR boating access sites, state parks, the national and state forests, and road crossings; wading a navigable stream is generally allowed but the bank is usually private. Designated trout streams carry their own seasons. Public access confirmed via public-trust river.
A warmwater Michigan river (the Kalamazoo, Huron, Raisin, Shiawassee, Cass, Flint, Thornapple, Rogue, Looking Glass, Red Cedar) — smallmouth and largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, rock bass, bluegill, channel and flathead catfish, and crappie in the slow water. Wade or float; access at DNR sites, county parks and bridges.
It runs roughly 25 miles through the Southwest Michigan region. Anglers here mostly fish for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye; rock bass, bluegill, channel catfish, flathead catfish are also on record. Live flow and gauge height come from the South Branch Black River Near Bangor, Mi USGS station shown below. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Merriman Lake and Moon Lake.
Species from PiscaMaps water-type profiles, MI DNR trout designations and hand research.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Michigan. Some designated trout streams are closed outside the regular trout season, and a number of rivers close to fishing seasonally in spawning reaches (marked). Ice-fishing shanties must be removed by set dates that vary by zone. Spearing, dip-netting for smelt and suckers, and bowfishing for carp and gar have their own seasons and waters.
Boats: Most Michigan rivers are drift-boat, canoe and jet-boat water; the lower Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, St. Joseph and Saginaw take bigger boats, and the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair are full big-water fisheries. The Au Sable, Pere Marquette and the northern trout rivers are wade and drift-boat fishing.
Bank & bivvy camping: Bank access is at MI DNR boating access sites, state parks and recreation areas, the Huron-Manistee, Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests, state game and forest land, and road/bridge crossings. Michigan's public-trust doctrine covers the Great Lakes bottomlands to the ordinary high-water mark; on inland rivers, wading a navigable stream is generally allowed but the bank is usually private.
Tackle: Statewide black-bass possession is 5 (14-inch minimum; a catch-and-immediate-release season runs before the mid-June opener on most water, with Lake St. Clair, the Detroit and St. Marys rivers and a few others open all year). Walleye 5 (15-inch), northern pike 2 (24-inch), muskellunge 1 (42-inch, tag required), panfill generous, trout and salmon limits vary by stream type and lake. The Great Lakes and the trout streams each carry their own seasons, gear and length rules — check the current MI DNR Fishing Guide for this water.
Camping: 1 site mapped nearby — Eagle Point Campground.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Loading live flow & gauge height…
Live from USGS gauge 04102700 — South Branch Black River Near Bangor, Mi. Full gauge data →
Anyone 17+ needs a Michigan DNR fishing licence — the resident annual all-species licence is about $26, the non-resident annual about $76, and 1-day and 3-day all-species licences are sold. Michigan folded the old separate trout/salmon stamp into the base all-species licence in 2014, so one licence covers everything including trout, salmon and the Great Lakes; there is no separate stamp. Michigan residents 65 and older buy a reduced-price senior licence, and anglers under 17 fish free. Buy from the DNR at Michigan.gov/DNRLicenses. A Michigan all-species fishing licence covers navigable rivers and the Great Lakes. Lake Erie's western basin is fished on a Michigan or Ohio licence in the reciprocal zone; the Menominee and other border waters on a Michigan or Wisconsin licence. Designated trout streams carry their own seasons.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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