Michigan · Freestone · Midwest
Au Sable River
Coldwater river with public-access reaches and special-regulation sections.
Michigan · public-access reaches. This page is what the desk knows about the water itself. What it is doing today — flow, water temperature, weather, and the hazards those produce — is a reading with a date on it, and it lives in Trip Prep.
Plan a trip on Au Sable RiverStores this page so it opens with no signal. Live flow and weather are never stored.
Who manages it
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
These links were checked against the live agency site on 2026-09-01. Rules for a water change inside a season, so the agency’s own page on the day you go is the only current answer — this desk does not hold one.
Directory review
Review provenance unavailable
The fleet directory names this water differently, and nothing records which of its records is the Au Sable River this desk plans on, so the desk will not borrow a review date from any of them. Linking them is a review task for the directory’s owner, not a guess for this page. The directory’s record:
The agency links on this page were checked on 2026-09-01; check the agency’s own page the day you go.
How access works here
Road-adjacent public reaches
Freestone reaches on this list are generally reached from a road that runs the valley — bridge crossings, pullouts and public-land frontage. Between those, ownership changes without a sign.
Launch · Hand-launch for a raft or small drift boat at bridges and pullouts where it is legal. Confirm the take-out before you push off; a freestone take-out can be a long way down.
Parking · Parking is at designated access points. A pullout that looks fine is not automatically legal or safe to leave a vehicle in.
Michigan publishes a boat launch locator; a Recreation Passport is normally required for state-managed launches.
Gauge
A public gauge is mapped
Flow and water temperature for this water are read from USGS site 04136000, Au Sable River near Red Oak, MI. It is an official public gauge, not a fishing pin: it describes the river at one point, and the reach you stand in may be doing something else.
Species · derived
3 plausible here
Derived from water class (freestone) and Midwest range — not a stocking record. Confirm species, seasons and any closures with Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Brown trout
54–67°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F
Brook trout
46–61°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 65°F
Rainbow trout
52–64°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F