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Croton Dam, Michigan
Croton Dam is the top of the Muskegon River run — 5 anadromous species stack below it out of Lake Michigan.
Open in BirdTrout43.437207, -85.663898 · Newaygo County · NID MI00162. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.
What the runs do here
Croton Dam is the anadromous ceiling for the Muskegon River — the top of the run out of Lake Michigan. Fish moving up from the lake stop here, which is 52.0 miles of river below this structure.
| Species | In the river | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Chinook salmon | Aug–Oct | Fish stage off the harbour through August and enter as the river cools; the run peaks in October. |
| Coho salmon | Sept–Nov | Overlaps the chinook run and holds later; peak October and November. |
| Steelhead | Oct–May | Two runs on one calendar — a fall push from October that winters in the river, and the spring run that peaks March through April. |
| Lake-run brown trout | Sept–Nov | Runs with the salmon and stays after them; peak October. |
| Lake sturgeon | Apr–June | Spawns on the gravel immediately below Croton Dam, which is as far up as the fish can get. Peak is May, and the trigger is temperature rather than the date — the run starts around 55°F and is finished above about 64°F. One of the larger remaining Lake Michigan runs, and the subject of a streamside rearing programme. Catch-and-release only — lake sturgeon is a Michigan state-threatened species and the possession season is closed on this water. Do not lift a fish out of the river. |
Curated calendar guidance from state run-timing prose, not regulation and not an observation of this river on any day. MDNR run-timing guidance and Michigan Fishing Guide prose, curated.
Ceiling cited as: curated here; FERC hydro, absent from the EGLE inventory
The structure
- Owner
- Consumers Energy Company Public Utility
- Purpose
- Hydroelectric, Recreation
- Completed
- 1907
- Type
- Gravity
- Height
- 46 ft
- Length
- 700 ft
- Spillway
- Controlled
- Storage
- 22,000 acre-ft · 1,209 acre pool
- Drainage
- 2,290 sq mi
- Condition
- Satisfactory · High hazard potential
- Status
- Normal Operations
From the National Inventory of Dams (USACE). Hazard potential is a downstream-consequence classification, not a statement about the structure's condition.
The water above and below
No designated coldwater reach within a mile and a half of this structure.
Water right now
| Gauge | Distance | Temp | Flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muskegon River near Croton, MI | 0.2 mi | 65.8 °F | 1,020 cfs |
| Little Muskegon River near Oak Grove, MI | 3.5 mi | 56.7 °F | 140 cfs |
| Muskegon River near Oxbow, MI | 3.8 mi | 68.9 °F | — |
Live from USGS. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away — the distance column is there so you can discount it. A hydro dam's releases move the flow below it on a schedule the gauge sees and this page does not.
Getting to it
- Muskegon River Besemer Park 0.2 mi · walk in
- Pine Street 1.1 mi · boat launch · Muskegon River
- Muskegon River 72nd Street DNR Fishing Access 1.9 mi · walk in
- Bills Lake 2.9 mi · boat launch · Bills Lake
- High Rollway Thornapple 3.2 mi · boat launch · Muskegon River
- Sandy Beach County Park 4.3 mi · boat launch · Hardy Dam Pond
Public access sites near the dam, straight-line distance. A dam itself is private property unless its owner says otherwise; these are the places the state lists as open.
Fly shops nearby
- Parsley's Sport Shop 7.0 mi · Newaygo
- Brenners Sporting Goods 26.7 mi · Comstock Park · +1-616-785-3388
- Pere Marquette River Lodge 32.3 mi · Baldwin
- Nomad Anglers 32.7 mi · Grand Rapids
- Baldwin Bait & Tackle 33.2 mi · Baldwin