BirdTrout
Platte River, Michigan
33 mapped river miles, draining 156 square miles across Benzie county, in the Betsie-Platte subbasin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 15.1 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 20.6 miles away, at Manistee River Near Sherman — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all, so no number here comes from it.
The character of the water
Benzie County water in the Betsie-Platte subbasin, a medium stream of 32.7 mapped miles at a median width of 24.6 feet, fourth order, draining 155.61 square miles. Fifteen and three tenths miles are Type 1, last Saturday in April through September 30th, and 13.2 miles are Type 4, open year round and limited to one single-pointed unweighted hook half an inch or less from point to shank. The US 31 bridge at Veteran's Park down to Platte Lake closes January 1st through March 31st, and water within 300 feet of the DNR weir closes whenever the weir stands. Blue Ribbon designation runs 7.8 miles, Maple City Road to Honor. A 2022 survey, mean width 49.43 feet, found brown trout, coho salmon and rainbow trout at 3,223 per acre, 75 pounds per acre. Stocking at the Hatchery site has run since 1979 at 134,077.4 per mile. MDNR types 1.7 miles, 5 percent, describing the valley segment; no temperature is measured here. Three launches.
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 23.3–23.1 | 0.2 | cool | Warm transitional stream · low gradient |
| RM 22.0–8.1 | 1.0 | cold | Cold small river · medium gradient |
| RM 3.9–3.4 | 0.5 | cool | Warm transitional small river · very low gradient |
MDNR has classified 1.7 of the 33 miles NHD carries for this stream — 5% of it. The typed water splits 1.0 mi cold, 0.7 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.
The lake run
The Platte River is a Lake Michigan tributary with 17.3 miles of run corridor on it — salmon, steelhead and lake-run brown trout, on their own calendar and under their own rules. Run timing, species and access on the Platte River →
Questions about this river
- Platte River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Platte River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Platte River — access, parking and public land
- Platte River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the Platte River good for brown trout?
- Is the Platte River good for rainbow trout?
Regulations
MDNR trout stream types, as designated. Types on file cover 28.5 of the 32.7 mapped miles; 4.2 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 15.3 mi |
RM 32.7–17.0 | 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" |
|
Type 4 13.2 mi |
RM 17.0–8.1 RM 4.8–0.0 |
January 1st–December 31st | Brook trout 7", Brown trout 10", 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.
Type 1: Closed to fishing within 300 feet of DNR weir wherever weir is in place.
Type 4: Closed to fishing from January 1 - March 31: US 31 bridge at Veteran's Park downstream to Platte Lake.
Type 4: Closed to fishing within 300 feet of DNR weir wherever weir is in place.
Blue Ribbon. Platte River (BR 45), 7.8 mapped miles. MDNR's limits, verbatim — upstream: Maple City Road; downstream: Honor.
Access
3 mapped MDNR access sites within a quarter mile of the water, upstream first: Lake Dubonnet State Forest Campground (RM 30.0), Veterans Memorial State Forest Campground (RM 17.0), Platte River State Forest Campground (RM 14.4). 0 walk-in, 3 boat or canoe launches.
Public land on the river
16 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 155,178 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Traverse City Management Unit | Michigan DNR | 45,503 |
| Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 36,886 |
| Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore | National Park Service | 31,554 |
| Pere Marquette State Forest - Traverse City Unit | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 23,689 |
| Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness | National Park Service | 12,928 |
| Platte River Fish Hatchery | Michigan DNR | 1,523 |
| Lake DuBonnet Flooding State Wildlife Management Area | State Dept. of Natural Resources | 1,038 |
| Platte River | Michigan DNR | 590 |
| Lake Dubonnet Forest Campground | Michigan DNR | 441 |
| Public Water Access Site | Michigan DNR | 382 |
Species
MDNR's most recent survey on this river ran in 2022 at Platte River, Benzie County, in a channel averaging 49.43 feet: brown trout, coho salmon, rainbow trout, at 3,223 trout per acre and 75 pounds per acre. MDNR strata: medium, great lakes accessible, wild trout; regulation at the station, type 1.The station has been surveyed in 15 years since 1985.
- Brown trout surveyed
- Coho salmon surveyed
- Rainbow trout surveyed
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Brown trout, Coho salmon, Rainbow trout. The most recent plants are Coho salmon, Rainbow trout at Hatchery (Benzie Co., through 2026); Brown trout, Coho salmon at El Dorado Access Site (Benzie Co., through 2026); Rainbow trout at White Pine Lake (Benzie Co., through 2015).
Hatches on this water
53 insects are recorded from northern 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 |
| Green Rock Worm / Green Weenie Rhyacophila spp. |
April–June and September–October | 45–68°F | #10–14 |
| Hendrickson Ephemerella subvaria |
April–May | 45–58°F | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis Chimarra atterima |
April–May | 46–58°F | #16–20 |
| Alderfly Sialis spp. |
May–June | 52–66°F | #10–14 |
| Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae |
May–September | 55–75°F | #8–14 |
| Crayfish Orconectes spp. |
May–October | 55–78°F | #4–8 |
And 39 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
4 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- North Branch Platte River 6.3 mi · RM 8.4
- Carter Creek 5.6 mi · RM 13.7
- Brundage Creek 3.1 mi · RM 17.8
- Collison Creek 3.0 mi · RM 12.1
Platte River sits in HUC 8 04060104, the Betsie-Platte subbasin, and drains 156 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 41 NHD reaches carry the name for 32.6 miles in total.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.