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Home › Waters › Michigan › Boardman River
River · Grand Traverse County in northwest Lower Michigan, running north from the Mayfield and Brown Bridge country into Traverse City and Grand Traverse Bay · Michigan

Boardman River Fishing Guides

A cold, sand-and-gravel northern Michigan trout river running into Traverse City, transformed by one of the largest dam removal projects in the Midwest.

Mist over a green river between wooded banks

Map of the Boardman River

23 numbered points: 3 access points, 2 campsites, 2 bait & fly shops, 4 bridges, 9 parks and conservation areas, 1 agency office, 1 hazard, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 25, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Access / boat ramp (3)
  • Campsite (2)
  • Bait, tackle & fly shop (2)
  • Bridge crossing (4)
  • Park / conservation area (9)
  • Agency / conservation office (1)
  • Dam / hazard (1)
  • USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

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All 23 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1Forks Canoe Launch
Michigan DNR launch		Access / boat ramp44.67325, -85.40096Uppermost access on the mapped main stem, at the forks above Scheck's Place.
2Forks State Forest Campground
Michigan DNR state forest campground		Campsite44.67338, -85.40218Small state forest campground at the Forks launch, 100 m from the water.
3USGS 04126970 - Boardman River near Mayfield
Real-time stage and discharge		USGS gauge44.65667, -85.43673The gauge float levels on this river are read from, at the Brown Bridge Road crossing.
4Brown Bridge Road
Upper river crossing		Bridge crossing44.65678, -85.43850Road crossing at the gauge; the usual upper reference point for float lengths on the state forest water.
5Scheck's Place River Access
Launch beside the Scheck's Place trail camp		Access / boat ramp44.65129, -85.44653Unnamed slipway in OSM; it is the launch serving the Scheck's Place trail camp 160 m away, which OSM spells 'Sheck's'.
6Scheck's Place State Forest Campground
Michigan DNR state forest campground		Campsite44.65258, -85.45589State forest campground on the middle river, with a separate walk-in trail camp just upstream.
7Brown Bridge Quiet Area
City of Traverse City nature reserve		Park / conservation area44.65328, -85.49235Large riverside nature reserve on the reach restored after the Brown Bridge Dam was removed; foot access only.
8Howard and Mary Dunn Edwards Nature Sanctuary
Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy		Park / conservation area44.64789, -85.52611Conservancy preserve on the south bank below the Quiet Area.
9Shumsky Road
Shumsky Road crossing		Bridge crossing44.64825, -85.58771Named crossing on the lower state forest reach and a standard take-out reference.
10Michigan DNR Traverse City Customer Service Center
Michigan Department of Natural Resources		Agency / conservation office44.65521, -85.65693DNR customer service centre for this river, about 3 km south of the water; the place to ask about access and campground status.
11Beitner Park
Grand Traverse County		Park / conservation area44.67456, -85.62975County park at the Beitner Road crossing, on the last free-flowing reach above the city.
12Beitner Park Kayak/Canoe Launch
Launch inside Beitner Park		Access / boat ramp44.67478, -85.63020The park's own launch. The Beitner Road bridge sits about 45 m away and is not shown separately.
13Cass Road
Cass Road crossing		Bridge crossing44.69869, -85.62332Crossing on the reach between Beitner Park and the Sabin and Boardman impoundments.
14River East Recreation Area
Garfield Charter Township		Park / conservation area44.71914, -85.61670Township recreation area on the river just above Boardman Lake.
15Medalie Park
Grand Traverse County Parks & Recreation		Park / conservation area44.73462, -85.61496County park at the south end of Boardman Lake, where the river enters the lake.
16Kayak Launch Park
City of Traverse City		Park / conservation area44.75639, -85.61574City park and launch on the north-west shore of Boardman Lake.
17Hull Park
City of Traverse City		Park / conservation area44.75673, -85.60977City park on the north-east shore of Boardman Lake, with the library and the lake loop trail.
18American Legion Park
City of Traverse City		Park / conservation area44.76165, -85.62056Riverside park on the short city reach between Boardman Lake and the bay.
19South Union Street
City crossing at the dam site		Bridge crossing44.76204, -85.62382Downtown crossing. Unnamed dam and weir structures sit on the centreline just upstream, at the Union Street Dam and FishPass site; OSM names none, so none is pinned. Treat the water above as impounded and portage.
20The Northern Angler
Fly shop · Traverse City		Bait, tackle & fly shop44.76437, -85.62955Full fly shop a short walk from the lower river in Traverse City.
21Boardman Weir
Weir on the lower city reach		Dam / hazard44.76448, -85.62694The one named in-stream structure on the city reach; sits on the centreline.
22Open Space Park
City of Traverse City		Park / conservation area44.76665, -85.62436The waterfront Open Space at the river's mouth on West Grand Traverse Bay.
23Streamside Orvis
Fly shop · Traverse City		Bait, tackle & fly shop44.76399, -85.61775Orvis fly shop on the lower river. OSM records the name as 'Orivis Streamside'; the shop's own site spells it Streamside Orvis.

Guides on the Boardman River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

Order on this page: premium and outfitter plans first (labelled Premium placement), then claimed free profiles, then unclaimed — one published price, no bidding for position. How placement works

About the Boardman River

The Boardman is the river that made Traverse City a fishing town. It runs about thirty miles north through Grand Traverse County, spring-fed and cold, over the sand and gravel typical of northwest Lower Michigan, and empties into the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay in the middle of the city. Above town it is classic northern Michigan trout water: cedar-lined, tannin-tinted, with sweeping bends, deep outside corners and long shallow gravel runs. The reach above Brown Bridge Road where this gauge sits is among the most attractive water on the river.

What sets the last fifteen years apart is restoration. A sequence of dam removals through the 2010s, among the largest such projects in the region, reopened long stretches of the river to natural flow and to fish movement, and the sediment and temperature regime has been settling ever since. Resident brown trout are the primary fishery and hold through the upper and middle river. Brook trout persist in the colder feeder water. In the lower river below town, steelhead and salmon run up from the bay, giving the system a second and completely different seasonal fishery. Note that the river was officially renamed the Ottaway River in 2023 in recognition of Anishinaabe history, though the USGS station and most local usage still say Boardman.

Guides fish it by wading and by small drift boat depending on the reach, and access along the upper river is good through state and county land. It is a river worth reading carefully rather than covering fast. The gauge here reports discharge and stage but not water temperature, which matters in a system this dependent on cold water, so anglers working the marginal summer stretches should carry a thermometer and fish the shaded upper water when the days get hot.

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Posting to Boardman River.

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Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

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  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
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  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Boardman River cfs

Now: 98.3 cfs, read 6:15 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 04126970, BOARDMAN R ABOVE BROWN BRIDGE ROAD NR MAYFIELD, MI).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Brown Bridge Quiet Area near Mayfield - trail and bank access on the upper river at the former impoundment.
Forks Campground at the confluence of the branches - developed access at the top of the mainstem.
Scheck's Place State Forest Campground - riverside camping and wading access on the upper river.
Shumsky access site off Supply Road - established launch and parking on the middle river.
Beitner Park in Traverse City - lower river access with parking and a canoe launch.
Sabin and Boardman dam sites - restoration-area access below the former impoundments.
Union Street dam area in Traverse City - lower river access for steelhead and salmon runs.

Seasons

Spring: high water and the steelhead run in the lower river, with the upper river settling into good trout fishing by May.
Summer: prime wading months on the upper river, with strong evening hatches and best fishing in the shaded cedar reaches.
Fall: brown trout turn aggressive before the spawn and salmon push up from the bay into the lower river.
Winter: cold and quiet, with limited trout fishing and steelhead holding in the lower river between thaws.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Boardman River?

As of Nov 2, 6:15 am, the USGS gauge BOARDMAN R ABOVE BROWN BRIDGE ROAD NR MAYFIELD, MI reads 98 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Boardman River?

Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Steelhead on the Boardman River in Michigan.

Are there fishing guides on the Boardman River?

GuidedFloats lists 2 guides and outfitters on the Boardman River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Boardman River?

Brown Bridge Quiet Area near Mayfield - trail and bank access on the upper river at the former impoundment. Forks Campground at the confluence of the branches - developed access at the top of the mainstem. Scheck's Place State Forest Campground - riverside camping and wading access on the upper river. Shumsky access site off Supply Road - established launch and parking on the middle river. Beitner Park in Traverse City - lower river access with parking and a canoe launch. Sabin and Boardman dam sites - restoration-area access below the former impoundments. Union Street dam area in Traverse Cit...

When is the best time to fish the Boardman River?

Spring: high water and the steelhead run in the lower river, with the upper river settling into good trout fishing by May. Summer: prime wading months on the upper river, with strong evening hatches and best fishing in the shaded cedar reaches. Fall: brown trout turn aggressive before the spawn and salmon push up from the bay into the lower river. Winter: cold and quiet, with limited trout fishing and steelhead holding in the lower river between thaws.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Boardman River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Michigan agency site: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/fishing/fishing-regulations