Thornapple River (Indian Valley Campground area)

[jnpcook]

Just wanted to know what the river is like in this area (near Middleton, or Middleview). Could I use a 14 foot jon boat with 36 lb thrust electric trolling motor to take me upstream from the campground and fish my way back down and/or go downstream from the campground and fish my way back up?

Am thinking of taking my brother in law and nephew camping/fishing this weekend and am considering this campground. Was looking for a place with enough to do for my nephew and this looks to be a place where he will be able to keep busy.

Any comments or advice appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[waterfoul]

It's Middleville by the way. I haven't been there in years, and I was just a kid... so it's been a LOT of years. Can't help you really... but I know there are people here who can.

[vando45]

Never fished there, but from the looks of it you should be OK. I've seen pontoon boats above the 100th St. bridge about a mile downstream. Let us know how you do, I've been thinking about taking my kayak down there.

[lyrick]

I have seen people using jon boats on the Thornapple upstream from that location in Hastings. Judging from that I would say you would have no problem. You might want to look into putting in up stream and floating back. The current is pretty strong, in the sections I have floated a trolling motor wouldn't be very productive. There is a launch at Airport road off M-37, upstream from the campground, you could put in at. You could also float down to Middleville from where you are staying.

Good luck fishing and have fun.

:fish:

[lyrick]

One other thing if you do use the motor, go upstream first and float back.
This way if the trolling can'nt handle the current or if the stress of the current drains the battery faster than expected, you wont be down the creek without a paddle!!!:tdo12:

[michigansnorkeler]

I camped there for the first time over Labor Day weekend. The current is NOT very strong...a trolling motor will do just fine. My wife and I kayaked upstream pulling 2 teens on a tube for a 1/2 mile!! I caught a few bass while there.

We really liked the campground, as we had a site right next to the boat launch area (not really a launch, though, just a dead end at the river, but will work great for your boat, I think). I was under the impression that they would be closed for the season the first week of October. Are you sure they are open?

[jnpcook]

Thank you to everyone for the help. I decided to take the boat and my trolling motor along (I also threw on my 7.5 HP outboard just in case the current was too strong but this motor hasn't really worked since I bought it. It runs a little but is quite sporadic in it's running).

Anyway as I found out once I got there (didn't see your comment michigansnorkeler until I got back from our trip) the current is VERY SLOW there. Actually when we got there the wind was blowing and I really couldn't determine which direction was upstream.

Didn't catch anything (the water was frigid) but we did have a good time. It was a nice campground. Boat launch would be nice to have a concrete ramp but it was fine for my boat. It was very shallow launch though and a bit hard to launch even my boat. It is made more for canoes I think.

The trolling motor was just fine to go upstream (my motor can push my boat at about 2.5 to 3mph at full speed). I did get the gas outboard to run for about 5 or 10 minutes but only at a relatively high speed and it wouldn't run at idle or low speeds. I didn't get very far before I saw signs and realized it was a no wake zone anyway so I had to use the electric anyway as I couldn't run slow enough on the gas motor without causing a wake.

Launch is just a sand bottom launch.

We had a camp spot right on the river and were able to launch the boat and leave it tied up to a tree right by our campsite. That was nice.

John