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Fly fishing near Grand Rapids, Michigan
34 waters with a page on this site lie within 30 miles of Grand Rapids, Michigan — Rabbit River, Crockery Creek and Cedar Creek among them. 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 6 fly shops. Everything below is measured or published — no ranking on this page is ours.
The water
| Water | Distance | Miles | July mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rabbit River | 21.9 mi | 61.6 | — |
| Crockery Creek | 17.1 mi | 38.5 | — |
| Cedar Creek | 30.0 mi | 26.9 | — |
| Bear Creek | 28.0 mi | 23.5 | — |
| Sand Creek | 7.3 mi | 23.1 | — |
| Miller Creek | 27.4 mi | 18.9 | — |
| Glass Creek | 26.5 mi | 15.4 | — |
| Norris Creek | 15.9 mi | 12.6 | — |
| Rio Grande Creek | 11.4 mi | 10.8 | — |
| Sand Creek | 29.6 mi | 9.7 | — |
| Little Black Creek | 26.2 mi | 8.5 | — |
| Fourmile Creek | 29.7 mi | 7.8 | — |
| Lake Creek | 12.2 mi | 7.1 | — |
| North Channel Muskegon River | 27.2 mi | 7.0 | — |
| Robinson Bayou | 12.5 mi | 6.8 | — |
| Cranberry Creek | 14.7 mi | 5.1 | — |
| Wheeler Drain | 29.6 mi | 4.8 | — |
| Little Creek | 11.7 mi | 4.7 | — |
| Turner Creek | 26.9 mi | 4.7 | — |
| Maple River | 29.4 mi | 4.4 | — |
| Slater Drain | 27.5 mi | 4.2 | — |
| Hill Creek | 26.3 mi | 3.6 | — |
| Bassett Creek | 25.7 mi | 3.5 | — |
| Big and Outlet Drain | 26.8 mi | 3.3 | — |
| Pottawattomie Bayou | 22.6 mi | 2.6 | — |
| Spring Creek | 29.1 mi | 2.6 | — |
| Stearns Bayou | 12.3 mi | 2.3 | — |
| Muskegon Newaygo Drain | 14.5 mi | 2.1 | — |
| Porter Drain | 26.5 mi | 2.1 | — |
| Tidioute Drain | 12.5 mi | 1.9 | — |
| Dailey Drain | 27.6 mi | 1.9 | — |
| Hall Drain | 27.5 mi | 1.6 | — |
| Hall Drain | 27.6 mi | 1.6 | — |
| Tyden Creek | 29.5 mi | 1.2 | — |
Straight-line distance from the middle of town to the middle of the water. The roads are not mapped here, so this page does not give you a drive time it did not measure.
A 3-day plan
Rabbit River
Nearest listed access: Bear Creek 34th Street (walk in), 3.7 mi, or Bear Creek 38th Street (walk in), 5.4 mi.
Crockery Creek
Nearest listed access: Camp Lake (boat launch), 10.3 mi.
Cedar Creek
Nearest listed access: Bridgeton River Launch Park (boat launch), 0.9 mi, or Anderson Flats (boat launch), 5.4 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
- Bass River Recreation Area — 17.5 mi
- Rogue River State Game Area — 17.5 mi
- Saranac-Lowell State Game Area — 18.5 mi
- Olive Township State Game Area — 20.4 mi
- Middleville State Game Area — 21.4 mi
- Grand Haven State Game Area — 24.8 mi
- Yankee Springs Recreation Area — 25.3 mi
- Yankee Springs — 25.3 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yankee Springs-Crane House Cabin (fee) | 24.2 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs-Deer Lodge (fee) | 24.2 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs-Group Use Area (fee) | 25.0 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs Gun Lake-Modern (fee) | 25.1 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs Deep Lake-Rustic (fee) | 26.1 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs-Equestrian (fee) | 27.0 mi | MDNR |
| Ionia-Camper Cabins (fee) | 27.2 mi | MDNR |
| Ionia Beechwood-Rustic Hike-in Campground (fee) | 27.3 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
- Nomad Anglers — 0.0 mi, Grand Rapids
- Brenners Sporting Goods — 6.0 mi, Comstock Park
- Thornapple Orvis — 9.0 mi, Ada
- Mac Baits — 26.3 mi, Holland
- Bob's Gun & Tackle Shop — 27.7 mi, Hastings
- Parsley's Sport Shop — 32.2 mi, Newaygo
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
- Rabbit River
- Crockery Creek
- Cedar Creek
- Bear Creek
- Sand Creek
- Miller Creek