BirdTrout
Cedar Creek, Michigan
23 mapped river miles, draining 55 square miles, in the Muskegon River watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 22.4 miles away, and what this page knows about its temperature is MDNR's classification of the water itself.
50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands, breaking at 58, 64 and 70°F, that the app paints. Grey is water nobody has measured.
The nearest live reading
The nearest gauge is 22.4 miles away, at Muskegon River — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The character of the water
A medium stream in the Muskegon River watershed, 23.4 mapped miles at fourth order, draining 54.99 square miles at a median width of 18.4 feet; the NHD line runs longer at 26.88 miles. MDNR types 1.6 miles, 6 percent coverage: 1.4 typed miles of Cool between river miles 23.1 and 21.8, and 0.2 typed miles of Cold, cold stream, from river mile 10.9 down to 5.2, both at medium gradient. MDNR classes the valley segment, not the water: no measured temperature exists; the nearest gauge, on the Muskegon River, is 22.4 miles off. Regulation splits between 16.6 miles of Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 5.0 miles of Type 3 open year-round. The North Channel Muskegon River is the water it enters at river mile 0.0; Little Cedar Creek, 9.2 miles, comes in at 5.2. Three public land units total 41,703 acres. No access sites, no stocking, no survey.
Thermal classification
MDNR types this water from its valley, not from a thermometer in it. A class, not a temperature — no July mean, because none was measured here.
| Reach | Typed miles | Band | MDNR type |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM 23.1–21.8 | 1.4 | cool | Warm transitional stream · medium gradient |
| RM 10.9–5.2 | 0.2 | cold | Cold stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 1.6 of the 27 miles NHD carries for this stream — 6% of it. The typed water splits 1.4 mi cool, 0.2 mi cold. The untyped reaches are not warm water — they are water MDNR's inventory does not reach, and the mile ranges above span only the reaches it does.
Questions about this river
- Cedar Creek fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish Cedar Creek — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to Cedar Creek — access, parking and public land
- Cedar Creek fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 21.6 of the 23.4 mapped miles; 1.8 miles carry no type in this dataset. Always check the current Michigan Fishing Guide before you fish — this is a copy, and the Guide is the rule.
| Type | Where | Season | Minimum sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Type 1 16.6 mi |
RM 23.4–5.2 | Last Saturday in April–September 30th | Brook trout 7", Brown trout 8", Rainbow trout / steelhead 10", Lake trout 10", Chinook salmon 10", Coho salmon 10", Pink salmon 10", Atlantic salmon 10" |
|
Type 3 5.0 mi |
RM 5.2–0.0 | January 1st–December 31st | Brook trout 15", Brown trout 15", Rainbow trout / steelhead 10", Lake trout 10", Chinook salmon 10", Coho salmon 10", Pink salmon 10", Atlantic salmon 10" |
Creel across all types: 5 fish, with no more than 3 trout 15“ or greater. Zero (0) Arctic Grayling. Tackle: Artificial lures and all types of natural bait may be used.
Public land on the river
2 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 41,626 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Manistee National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 26,347 |
| Muskegon State Game Area | Michigan DNR - Wildlife Division | 15,278 |
Species
No species records for this water in the files this site reads.
Hatches on this water
47 insects are recorded from southern lower Michigan, which is the region this river sits in. That is a claim about the region and not a survey of this stream: nobody has recorded which of them has been caught here. Open the river in the app and the hatch panel will narrow it to the ones whose temperature window today's reading is inside.
| Insect | Peak | Water | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish Eggs Other |
October–January and April | 33–60°F | #10–16 |
| Little Black Stonefly Allocapnia / Capnia spp. |
January–April | 34–46°F | #16–18 |
| Little Brown Stonefly Taeniopteryx / Strophopteryx spp. |
February–April | 38–50°F | #12–16 |
| Blue-Winged Olive Baetis spp. |
March–May and September–November | 38–58°F | #16–22 |
| Blackfly Simulium spp. |
April–June | 40–65°F | #18–22 |
| Blue Quill Paraleptophlebia adoptiva |
April–May | 44–56°F | #16–18 |
| Cranefly Tipula spp. |
April–June and September–October | 40–65°F | #6–10 |
| Grannom Brachycentrus spp. |
April–May | 48–58°F | #14–16 |
| Hendrickson Ephemerella subvaria |
April–May | 45–58°F | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis Chimarra atterima |
April–May | 46–58°F | #16–20 |
| Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae |
May–September | 55–75°F | #8–14 |
| Crayfish Orconectes spp. |
May–October | 55–78°F | #4–8 |
| Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca |
May–July | 55–68°F | #12–16 |
| Little Sulphur Ephemerella dorothea |
May–July | 50–62°F | #16–20 |
And 33 more — the year-round records, mostly: midges, scuds and sculpins, which are in the water every day and are therefore never the news.
Tributaries and watershed
8 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Little Cedar Creek 9.2 mi · RM 5.2
- North Channel Muskegon River 7.0 mi · RM 0.0
- Martin Drain 3.6 mi · RM 18.5
- Markle Drain 3.0 mi · RM 23.4
- Sweeter Creek 2.4 mi · RM 5.3
- Little Henna Creek 2.2 mi · RM 12.5
- West Branch Cedar Creek 1.2 mi · RM 15.0
- Dobie Drain 1.1 mi · RM 23.4
Cedar Creek sits in HUC 8 04060102, the Muskegon River watershed, and drains 55 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 39 NHD reaches carry the name for 26.9 miles in total — more than the 23.4 miles of drawn mainstem, because NHD counts side channels and braids as their own reaches.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.