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Platte River Fishing Report, Michigan

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Platte River: one of the two streams where Michigan stocked the first Great Lakes coho in 1966, home to the state’s main coho egg-collection weir.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
124 cfs
Air / High
64 / 66 F
Wind
S 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04126740, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Platte River feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The river is running 124 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 66. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:19 AM-12:19 PM and 10:49 PM-12:49 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Tomorrow: Similar at 66 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Michigan requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $26.00 for residents. What a Michigan licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Michigan, read off the agency, are on the Michigan seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Platte River at Honor.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04126740.

130148166124 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 36 years of October 23

At 124 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04126740 (Platte River at Honor) is at the 53rd percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 36 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 122 cfs; the highest was 452 cfs and the lowest 85 cfs.

p10 100median 122p90 168

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04126740; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp64 F
High / Low66 / 38 F
WindS 4-6 mph
Pressure1025.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset08:10 / 18:46
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Platte River this week

The best day on Platte River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:19 AM-12:19 PM and 10:49 PM-12:49 AM
Minor period
4:42 AM-5:42 AM
Sun
08:10 to 18:46
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 4 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Platte River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Platte River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Platte River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 4 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Michigan requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Michigan fishing license. Platte River (Benzie County): one single-pointed unweighted hook, 1/2 inch or less point to shank; closed within 300 feet of the upper and lower weirs when in place; closed Jan. 1 to Mar. 31 from the US-31 bridge at Veterans Park to Platte Lake; below that bridge, no more than one rainbow trout in the daily limit (2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations).

Access

Platte River Point (Lake Michigan Road, paved launch, fee station), El Dorado access and the Loon Lake launch off M-22, all in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore; Platte River State Fish Hatchery grounds on US-31, open dawn to dusk.

About this water

Lake Michigan tributary in Benzie County, Michigan, entering Platte Bay inside Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Gauge: USGS 04126740, Platte River at Honor.

Fishing Platte River: the full guide

Where Great Lakes salmon began

Coho were introduced to the Great Lakes in 1966, when smolts were stocked in two Lake Michigan tributaries: the Platte River and Bear Creek, a tributary of the Big Manistee. The first spawning run came back in fall 1967. The Platte River State Fish Hatchery on US-31 near Beulah, which the DNR calls the birthplace of the Great Lakes salmon program, is the main coho egg-collection site for the upper Great Lakes.

The fall run

Adult salmon return to the hatchery to spawn from mid-September to late October. The hatchery runs a lower weir with a harvest and passage facility and an upper weir egg-collection station, and the Park Service notes that paddlers below El Dorado meet the weir from mid-August through October. The DNR says surf anglers and trollers fish Platte Bay as coho stage for the run.

Tight rules

The Platte has some of Michigan’s strictest tackle rules: one single-pointed, unweighted hook no larger than 1/2 inch from point to shank. The river is closed within 300 feet of either weir while it is in place, and closed from the US-31 bridge at Veterans Park down to Platte Lake from January 1 through March 31.

Inside Sleeping Bear

The lower river runs through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, where a Michigan fishing license is required. Platte River Point, at the end of Lake Michigan Road, has a paved trailer launch and a separate river access; El Dorado, about a mile upstream, has a canoe and kayak launch and a deck overlook for fishing. Loon Lake, on the river, has a boat launch off M-22.

Common questions

Why is the Platte River historic?

It was one of the two streams where Michigan stocked the first Great Lakes coho in 1966; the fish returned to spawn in 1967.

When do salmon run the Platte?

Adults return to the hatchery from mid-September to late October, after staging in Platte Bay.

What hook can I use?

Only one single-pointed, unweighted hook no larger than 1/2 inch from point to shank.

Is fishing good at Platte River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Betsie River8 miGrand Traverse Bay30 miBig Manistee River31 miTorch Lake44 miHamlin Lake46 miLittle Manistee River47 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04126740 — Platte River at Honor
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:00 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.7000, -86.1000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.