Chris Izworski, reporting from Michigan on the current state of the Tahquamenon River this Wednesday morning in late June. Gauge data is unavailable today, which is not uncommon on this remote system, but the river above and below the falls is running clear and stable after last week’s frontal passage moved through. Air temperatures are holding in the low seventies with cloud cover expected to persist through midday before scattered showers move in tonight. The Tahquamenon remains what it has always been: a tannin-stained river the color of strong tea, slow in its upper meadow reaches, faster and colder below the falls where brook trout hold in broken water between stretches of sand and drowned timber.
The Window This Week
We are positioned now between the sulphur flights of early June and the hexagenia emergence that typically begins the last days of this month and continues into mid-July. Brown drakes have been showing sporadically in the lower river sections, particularly in the slower pools above the falls where the river widens and loses gradient. Isonychia have been coming off in good numbers during the late afternoon hours, typically between five and seven o’clock, and the brook trout are rising to them when cloud cover persists and the wind stays down. These are size 12 mayflies, slate-bodied and robust, and they prefer the faster water where the current breaks over gravel bars or funnels between submerged logs. The fish respond best to a clean drift with a high-floating pattern: an Isonychia Comparadun or a Slate Drake has been effective. The spinner fall has been scattered and less reliable than the emergence itself.
After dark, or very near it, the first hexagenia spinners have begun to appear over the slower pools. This is early yet, and the emergence is not consistent, but it is worth staying late and watching the water closely. If you see the big yellow mayflies lifting off in the dusk hour, you will know the main hatch is close.
What Is Hatching
Isonychia are the bread and butter right now. They emerge in riffles and runs during the late afternoon and early evening, and you will see the duns riding the current in good numbers if conditions hold cloudy and calm. Midges are present all day in the slower water, though they do not provoke much surface activity. Small tan caddis, size 16 and 18, are fluttering over the banks in the warmer hours of midday, and a soft hackle or Elk Hair Caddis swung through the runs will take brook trout and the occasional brown. Terrestrial activity is building as well: ants and beetles are beginning to fall into the margins where overhanging grass and tag alder line the banks. A size 14 black ant fished tight to the structure will produce strikes when the mayflies are not showing.
Where to Go
The upper Tahquamenon above the falls is wadeable in most stretches and holds good numbers of brook trout in the twelve to fourteen inch range. The water is soft and slow here, and long leaders are necessary to avoid spooking fish in the thin current. The meadow bends near the Upper Falls access provide classic sight fishing opportunities when the sun angle is right. Below the falls, the river picks up speed and temperature drops noticeably. This is where the better brook trout hold, especially in the pocket water downstream of the cascade where oxygen levels are higher and the current breaks over cobble and bedrock. Access is more limited here: you will need to hike in from the Lower Falls parking area and work downstream through mixed hardwood forest. Wading is more technical, and felt soles or studs are advisable on the slick rock.
The Practical Read
The forecast calls for scattered showers tonight and a return to partly sunny skies Thursday. This will not raise water levels significantly, but it may improve fishing conditions by dropping air temperatures a few degrees and increasing cloud cover during the evening hatch window. If you are planning to fish the Isonychia emergence, focus your effort on the hour or two before sunset when the mayflies are most active. If you are chasing the early hex activity, stay into full dark and fish the slower pools with a large dry fly, size 6 or 8, tied on a heavy hook to turn over in low light. The Tahquamenon does not give up its fish easily, but it rewards patience and attention to the small details of presentation and timing.
For live conditions, regional forecasts, and reports from across Michigan’s trout network, visit michigantroutreport.com.