# Upper Platte River WARNING



## kcfishin (Nov 12, 2003)

I am posting this so none of you make the same mistake I did. I have never paddled the Platte R. before this week and was looking for some fishing spots to fly fish. My family and I did the lower stretch from Riverside livery to Lake Michigan earlier in the week during our vacation last week. On Thursday, I plannned to search out some real fly water and received what turned out to be either INTENTIONALLY FALSE or JUST PLAIN BAD information from a kayaker at a local state forest boat launch. The kayaker told me you can put in at Maple River Road north of the Platte River Fish Hatchery and float down to US31, floating past the hatchery.

Long story short, I put in my new float pontoon at Maple River Road and paddled through some really nice stretches (though shallow), then I reached a point where I had to cross over at least 25 large deadfalls in the river, not fun... After that I passed the upper fish hatchery section and came upon the lower fish hatchery wier. 

I was told you can float through the wier and upon floating through the open gates my pontoon caught on a spike they had sticking up from under the water (could not be seen while floating). One of my inflatable pontoons caught on the spike and immediately blew out and the boat flipped, threw the oars, and pulled me under the water. Luckily, I had my life jacket on the seat and was able to put in on after I flipped out of the boat. The boat was stuck on the wier wall with water rushing over. After a short struggle I freed the boat from the wier and my pile of mess floated down to shallower water. I am now in for a new pontoon bladder, cover, and oars. My boat is pretty scratched up in places.

The Platte River fish hatchery has NO WARNING SIGNS on the river side and I was told you could float through the wier. I was later told that the source that told me this was likely confused with the downstream wier nearer to Lake Michigan, though the water I was floating had no warning signs, buoys or otherwise.

I made it out without injury, but things could have turned bad in a hurry. There was no one around the hatchery to help out and it was mid-afternoon. Luckily my cell phone (in a plastic bag) pulled from the river was still working and I called family for help and to load the boat. 

Should I be calling the hatchery to notify them of this accident or should I just let it go? I will never make this mistake again.


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## Zofchak (Jan 10, 2003)

Did the kayaker you spoke to know that you were going to be in a float tube? I've never paddled that stretch, but the submerged obstacle that blew out your pontoon would probably not have been an issue in a non inflatable. Perhaps when he said it was passable he was expecting you were going to be in a canoe or kayak. 

As for notifying the hatchery, I would not bother. A place that may be easily passable one day can be treacherous the next if the water levels have changed or due to trapped debris. It's always a good idea to stop and check spots like that before heading through.


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## riverbob (Jan 11, 2011)

Sorry to here you had such a bad trip, now for the bright side, you are alive, not injured, got a story to tell, learned a lesson( bad info) your smarter now, as for notifing the hatchery, they must know ( but don't have the time or funds to fix it ) so my good man, you got another memory, lick your wounds, n fish on. ps. ( it's only money u lost)


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

Thanks for posting. That's a great "public service announcement". I float with a pontoon as well, and it serves as a good reminder to be cautious when floating unfamiliar water. Sorry about the equipment damage. What a headache.


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## 2PawsRiver (Aug 4, 2002)

I have lived on the Paw Paw River for 15 years and this is the lowest I have seen it. I would imagine the Platte is pretty low right now and what would normally be safe to float, may have some obstacles.

Just as a side not.......I am assuming your pontoon has a single bladder on each side. When you repair or replace you may want to look at a double bladder system, pop one and the other will keep you upright.


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## Benzie Rover (Mar 17, 2008)

KCfishn -

You certainly got some bad info and glad you made it out OK and really sorry for your gear... and honestly am surprised you made it as far as you did. I've seen a lot on that river, but dare say never heard of anyone accidentally floating this stretch...When I canoed that stretch about 8 years ago I knew what I was getting into and we portaged around the hatchery gates and yes, those downfalls above there are pretty nuts. I can not imagine floating it with out long pants, tennis shoes and leather gloves, but anyway, your weir drop must of been intense. Not sure anyone has done that before, intentionally anyway. Again, very glad to hear you are OK. That must of been quite a situation. 

Next time, check with any of the local stores or campground hosts or livery workers or at least scout your water better before dropping in. 

As a future tip, the true trout water does not start until Brundage Creek enters on the upstream side of the hatchery. The Co Rd 669 stretch is beautiful, but creek chub city with a few rock bass thrown in.


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

kcfishin said:


> I am posting this so none of you make the same mistake I did. I have never paddled the Platte R. before this week and was looking for some fishing spots to fly fish. My family and I did the lower stretch from Riverside livery to Lake Michigan earlier in the week during our vacation last week. On Thursday, I plannned to search out some real fly water and received what turned out to be either INTENTIONALLY FALSE or JUST PLAIN BAD information from a kayaker at a local state forest boat launch. The kayaker told me you can put in at Maple River Road north of the Platte River Fish Hatchery and float down to US31, floating past the hatchery.
> 
> Long story short, I put in my new float pontoon at Maple River Road and paddled through some really nice stretches (though shallow), then I reached a point where I had to cross over at least 25 large deadfalls in the river, not fun... After that I passed the upper fish hatchery section and came upon the lower fish hatchery wier.
> 
> ...


Why did you not just "google map" it? The technology we have nowadays allows you to figure out all of that stuff at the touch of a button. I have never heard of anyone floating that stretch ever. I'm glad to hear your alright, but common sense says to research the area you'll be floating before actually doing it. I would never float a stretch river of any without doing research ahead of time to figure out if it was 1) safe, and 2)worthwhile. It sounds like a learning experience, and hopefully next time you'll get your ducks in a line before going on another similar expedition. There are a million credible canoeing & kayaking websites for michigan streams that will give you more information than you ever thought was out there. I've also never heard of anyone doing very well on the Platte that far up, which brings me to my next question: did you at least catch some fish?


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## carsonr2 (Jan 15, 2009)

Think he learned his lesson guys, no need to belittle such an innocent mistake.

And btw, I've trout fished much further upstream of the areas you're discussing since the late 80's and have caught plenty of browns through the years on flies...so they're up there.


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## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

I have caught browns almost to Lake Ann in the past, they are there. I haven't fished there for years. You might want to call the hatchery just to let them know, but as mentioned above, I too have never heard of anyone floating that section, so maybe the won't give it much thought.


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## kcfishin (Nov 12, 2003)

Guys, I knew I'd get a lashing and considered not posting my original post, but thought if it could save someone a headache it would be worth it.

To clarify, a trip that I had planned that day got cancelled, so while on vacation and without Internet with me up north I did the impromptu adventure and went driving roads, talking to other paddlers and looking at maps. NO ONE told me this stretch was impassible. My biggest mistake is that I should have walked out to the road in the first 30minutes of my trip, but by not wanting to ruin my trip early, I ended up ruining it at the end. I am a very safe person but just didn't do enough research tha tparticular day.

Decided not to fish on that trip because of all the obstacles. Though I did see many small trout scoot out, a few 16 inch class fish and about 6, 20+ inch class fish just upstream of the hatchery.


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## geo5 (Dec 28, 2010)

how could it have been unsafe, the upper river is only 3 feet deep at full flow, in the holes. more like a creek dude.***


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

geo5 said:


> how could it have been unsafe, the upper river is only 3 feet deep at full flow, in the holes. more like a creek dude.***


The wipe out was what got him. He was doing fine for a while with exception to some hard-to-navigate areas.


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## kcfishin (Nov 12, 2003)

geo5 said:


> how could it have been unsafe, the upper river is only 3 feet deep at full flow, in the holes. more like a creek dude.***


Your information isn't quite correct. There were several places near deadfalls all along the upper stretch that were 3-4 feet deep during this low flow period. Granted, they were small, but there are some pretty deep washouts near the banks and under deadfalls.

The thing that got me was the the hole below the lower wier near the hatchery. The hole below the lower weir was well over my head (I would guess 8 to 10 feet in a limited area), but quickly shallows out downstream. 

There are some spots near the hatchery that are quite deep, not many but a few.


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## Benzie Rover (Mar 17, 2008)

Kc-
sorry if my post was overly-critical, you obviously are just trying to save others from having the same problem. We (locals) tend to see a lot of crazy stuff right now (cherry fest season) and what are seemingly goofy decisions by tourists usually turn out to just be innocent mistakes, but unfortunately we're often jaded and harsh about that stuff after the having dealt with the summer crowds for a few weeks now. So I apologize for the summer-stress grief and thanks for pointing out a potentially dangerous situation to other visitors. 

fish on


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## kcfishin (Nov 12, 2003)

Benzie Rover said:


> Kc-
> sorry if my post was overly-critical, you obviously are just trying to save others from having the same problem. We (locals) tend to see a lot of crazy stuff right now (cherry fest season) and what are seemingly goofy decisions by tourists usually turn out to just be innocent mistakes, but unfortunately we're often jaded and harsh about that stuff after the having dealt with the summer crowds for a few weeks now. So I apologize for the summer-stress grief and thanks for pointing out a potentially dangerous situation to other visitors.
> 
> fish on


Benzie Rover,
No problem. No offense taken. What happens is we folk that dream of living in the north country, get about a week or two a year to experience it, and push our limits during our limited time up north. Its like going to the bulk candy store while you're craving candy and somehow the clerk expects you not to stick your hand in the bin!

I can tell you that we sure do learn a lot more from our mistakes/failures than we do from our successes.

Be safe all.


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## fsutroutbum (Apr 20, 2008)

Glad you are safe. The river above Veterans Memorial Park on US 31 is really not made for floating. Lots of dead falls and a lot of shallow water especially during this dry spell. I fish the river a lot and only take my kayak for US-31 down. Above that it is wade water.


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