BirdTrout
Flat River, Michigan
26 mapped river miles, draining 514 square miles across Ionia county, in the Grand River basin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 17.2 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 17.2 miles away, at Wolf Creek At Pine Grove Road Near Vestaburg, Mi — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today.
The pills above go to USGS. These are this site's pages for the same gauges — a thirty-day chart, the monthly means, the record, and today's reading against the five-year normal for today: 04154612.
The character of the water
The Flat River carries 26.4 mapped miles in the Grand River basin through Ionia County, a fifth-order channel draining 513.69 square miles at a median width of 34.8 feet; the NHD line runs 51.56 miles. MDNR types 28.9 miles, 56 percent coverage, and most of it is Warm: 16.4 miles of warm small river from river mile 23.4 down to 1.9, plus a 3.0-mile warm reach up top. Two Cool reaches, 6.7 and 2.8 miles, are typed warm transitional small river. The class describes the valley segment rather than the water, so there is no measured temperature here; the nearest gauge, Wolf Creek at Pine Grove Road near Vestaburg, lies 17.2 miles away. Twenty public land units total 23,143 acres, led by Flat River State Game Area at 9,813 acres. Three access sites are all launches, none walk-in. Stocking ended long ago — walleye through 1994, rainbow trout through 1982, brown trout in 1980 — and no survey record covers this river.
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 26.4–26.4 | 6.7 | cool | Warm transitional small river · very low gradient |
| RM 26.4–23.5 | 3.0 | warm | Warm small river · very low gradient |
| RM 26.4–26.4 | 2.8 | cool | Warm transitional small river · very low gradient |
| RM 23.4–1.9 | 16.4 | warm | Warm small river · very low gradient |
MDNR has classified 28.9 of the 52 miles NHD carries for this stream — 56% of it. The typed water splits 19.4 mi warm, 9.5 mi cool. 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
- Flat River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Flat River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Flat River — access, parking and public land
- Flat River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the Flat River good for brown trout?
- Is the Flat River good for rainbow trout?
Access
3 mapped MDNR access sites within a quarter mile of the water, upstream first: Belding Dam Impoundment (RM 10.2), Belding Dam (RM 9.0), Ingalls Road (RM 4.7). 0 walk-in, 3 boat or canoe launches.
Public land on the river
17 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 22,679 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Flat River State Game Area | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 9,813 |
| Flat River | Michigan DNR | 9,607 |
| Langston State Game Area | Michigan DNR - Wildlife Division | 2,973 |
| Lightning Bend Park | — | 99 |
| Alan G. Davis Park | City of Greenville | 83 |
| Mccarthy Park | Montcalm County | 29 |
| Fred Meijer Flat River Trail Park | — | 21 |
| Central Riverside Park | City of Belding | 16 |
| First Lake Park | Belvidere Township | 10 |
| James Badge Memorial Park | City of Greenville | 9 |
Species
- Brown trout stocked only
- Rainbow trout stocked only
- Walleye stocked only
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Brown trout, Rainbow trout, Walleye. The most recent plants are Walleye at White Bridge Road (Ionia Co., through 1994); Rainbow trout at Ingalls Rd. (Ionia Co., through 1982); Brown trout at M44 (Ionia Co., through 1980).
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
3 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Dickerson Creek 34.6 mi · RM 12.8
- Wabasis Creek 5.6 mi · RM 14.9
- Seely Creek 3.4 mi · RM 5.6
Flat River sits in HUC 8 04050004, 04050005, 04050006 and 04050007, the Grand River basin, and drains 514 square miles, Strahler order 5 at the mouth. 41 NHD reaches carry the name for 51.6 miles in total — more than the 26.4 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.