BirdTrout
Glass Creek, Michigan
15.5 mapped river miles, draining 32 square miles across Barry county, in the Grand River basin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 22.9 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 gauge, and why there is no reading from it
The nearest gauge, 22.9 miles away at Kalamazoo River Near Allegan, Mi, is not reporting water temperature: USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all. A stopped gauge repeats its last value in silence, so there is no live temperature here. Nor is there a model to put in its place: that gauge has too little record to fit one, and this site does not print a temperature it cannot stand behind.
The character of the water
Small water on a small watershed: Glass Creek drains 31.89 square miles in Barry County across 15.5 mapped miles, holding a median width of 15.8 feet at a Strahler order of 4. MDNR has typed only 5.2 miles, 34 percent of the stream, and that segment, running from river mile 8.9 to the mouth, is Cold transitional stream on a medium gradient. The class describes the valley segment rather than the water itself, and the nearest gauge lies 22.9 miles away, so no measured temperature applies here. Thirteen and eight-tenths miles fall under Type 1 regulations, open from the last Saturday in April through September 30th, with artificial lures and all types of natural bait permitted and a creel of 5 fish. Brown trout is the only species stocked, planted at five sites since 1979 through 2024. Seven public land units total 16,662 acres, led by Barry State Game Area at 10,594. No access sites are mapped.
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 8.9–0.0 | 5.2 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · medium gradient |
MDNR has classified 5.2 of the 15.4 miles NHD carries for this stream — 34% of it. Every typed reach carries the same class, cold-transitional. 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
- Glass Creek fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish Glass Creek — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to Glass Creek — access, parking and public land
- Glass Creek fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is Glass Creek good for brown trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 13.8 of the 15.5 mapped miles; 1.7 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 13.8 mi |
RM 15.5–0.0 | 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" |
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
7 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 16,662 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Barry State Game Area | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 10,594 |
| Barry | Michigan DNR | 5,759 |
| Otis Sanctuary | Non-Governmental Organization | 126 |
| Ronald Warner Nature Sanctuary | Non-Governmental Organization | 99 |
| Otis Farm Bird Sanctuary | Michigan Audubon | 58 |
| Ronald H. Warner Sanctuary | Michigan Audubon Society | 20 |
| Shooting Range (Barry State Game Area) | — | 5 |
Species
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Brown trout. The most recent plants are Brown trout at Oak Road (Barry Co., through 2024); Brown trout at Chief Noonday Rd (Barry Co., through 2024); Brown trout at Goodwill Road (Barry Co., through 2024).
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
2 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Thornapple River 73.0 mi · RM 0.0
- Tyden Creek 1.2 mi · RM 12.9
Glass Creek sits in HUC 8 04050004, 04050005, 04050006 and 04050007, the Grand River basin, and drains 32 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 13 NHD reaches carry the name for 15.4 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.