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Grand weekend fly fishing trip
20 waters in the Grand watershed, Michigan, have a page here, the largest of them Grand River, Flat River and Fish Creek. June, July and August carry the most recorded hatches, 19 insects in June, 21 insects in July and 18 insects in August. In range: 8 blocks of public land with a page of their own, 8 state-forest campgrounds and 5 fly shops. Everything below is measured or published — no ranking on this page is ours.
The water
| Water | Miles | July mean |
|---|---|---|
| Grand River | 189.8 | — |
| Flat River | 51.6 | — |
| Fish Creek | 46.1 | — |
| Crockery Creek | 38.5 | — |
| Sand Creek | 23.1 | — |
| Glass Creek | 15.4 | — |
| West Branch Fish Creek | 15.1 | — |
| High Bank Creek | 13.5 | — |
| Norris Creek | 12.6 | — |
| Rio Grande Creek | 10.8 | — |
| Lake Creek | 7.1 | — |
| Robinson Bayou | 6.8 | — |
| Little Creek | 4.7 | — |
| Turner Creek | 4.7 | — |
| Hill Creek | 3.6 | — |
| Bassett Creek | 3.5 | — |
| Pottawattomie Bayou | 2.6 | — |
| Stearns Bayou | 2.3 | — |
| Tidioute Drain | 1.9 | — |
| Tyden Creek | 1.2 | — |
Ordered by mapped length. July mean is measured at the USGS gauges standing in each river; a dash means no gauge on it reports temperature.
A 3-day plan
Grand River
Nearest listed access: Charlton Park (boat launch), 0.9 mi, or Thornapple Lake (boat launch), 1.3 mi.
Flat River
Nearest listed access: Grass Lake - South (boat launch), 3.3 mi, or Twin Stone Lakes - East (canoe launch), 3.3 mi.
Fish Creek
Nearest listed access: Duck Lake (boat launch), 2.1 mi, or Crystal Lake North (boat launch), 2.3 mi.
Assembled, not written: the days are the largest waters in range, longest first, and each one carries the nearest site in Michigan's own access file — measured from the middle of the water, so it is a place to start looking rather than a landing on that river. Fish them in whatever order the weather gives you.
Hatches to hit
The months with the most recorded hatches in southern lower Michigan: June (19), July (21), August (18).
| Insect | Months | Hook |
|---|---|---|
| Fish Eggs | October–January and April | #10–16 |
| Little Black Stonefly | January–April | #16–18 |
| Little Brown Stonefly | February–April | #12–16 |
| Blue-Winged Olive | March–May and September–November | #16–22 |
| Blackfly | April–June | #18–22 |
| Blue Quill | April–May | #16–18 |
| Cranefly | April–June and September–October | #6–10 |
| Grannom | April–May | #14–16 |
| Hendrickson | April–May | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis | April–May | #16–20 |
| Caterpillar | May–September | #8–14 |
| Crayfish | May–October | #4–8 |
| Light Cahill | May–July | #12–16 |
| Little Sulphur | May–July | #16–20 |
Recorded from southern lower Michigan, earliest first. The year-round records sit at the bottom because they are true and they are not news.
Public land in range
- Middleville State Game Area — 8.6 mi
- Saranac-Lowell State Game Area — 11.7 mi
- Ionia State Recreation Area — 11.8 mi
- Tamarack Lake State Game Area — 12.1 mi
- Grand River State Game Area — 12.9 mi
- Barry State Game Area — 16.1 mi
- Yankee Springs Recreation Area — 16.9 mi
- Yankee Springs — 17.0 mi
Blocks of ground with a page of their own, nearest first. Ownership from PAD-US as Michigan publishes it.
Camping and lodging
| Campground | Distance | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| Ionia Beechwood-Rustic Hike-in Campground (fee) | 11.4 mi | MDNR |
| Ionia-Camper Cabins (fee) | 11.6 mi | MDNR |
| Ionia-"Reimagined" Mini Cabins (fee) | 11.8 mi | MDNR |
| Ionia-Modern (fee) | 11.8 mi | MDNR |
| Ionia Equestrian-Rustic (fee) | 12.0 mi | MDNR |
| Ionia-Group Use Area (fee) | 12.3 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs Deep Lake-Rustic (fee) | 16.1 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs-Crane House Cabin (fee) | 16.6 mi | MDNR |
State-forest and state-park campgrounds from Michigan's own file. This site holds no hotel or motel data and does not pretend to: what it can tell you is where the public ground is.
Fly shops
- Bob's Gun & Tackle Shop — 11.5 mi, Hastings
- Thornapple Orvis — 15.4 mi, Ada
- Nomad Anglers — 22.9 mi, Grand Rapids
- Brenners Sporting Goods — 25.7 mi, Comstock Park
- Mac Baits — 44.0 mi, Holland
From OpenStreetMap and a curated list, across all five states on this site. Call before you drive — a shop in a file is not a shop that is open.
Before you go
- Michigan regulations
- Michigan fishing report
- Grand watershed
- Grand River
- Flat River
- Fish Creek
- Crockery Creek
- Sand Creek
- Glass Creek