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There may be some play possible (at some water level) just below the dam forming Lake Tichigan (2 blocks N. of main street, behind the new Waterford Library). At high levels, the hole looks nasty as the water is "bottom release" from the dam, sheeting across a cement slab into a DEEP hole which is "hollow" back to the cement slab. At lower water levels, the water sheets and spreads too wide and doesn't really form any 'cohesive' wave or hole. The river is shallow and rocky not far downstream, making any play here likely to be rather brutal if/when one flips.
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A couple miles downstream lies another dam. There is a river left 'bypass' which occasionally has somewhere from a trickle to a minor rush of water over it, but is generally unrunnable due to (1) the shallowness, (2) metal rods stuck in the concrete, and (3) the fact that it will dump you out across a very jumbled rock bed. Some combination of the spillways from the dams are always open to one extent or another. (Usually one or both of the two left-most gates.) Some decent, potentially playable waves (for possible straight surfs, side surfs and flat-spins) and good strong currents to practice ferrying. Again, below the dam the river is fairly shallow and contains numerous ill-placed sub-surface rocks, making play rather ill-advised unless you are certain you can stay upright. (Specifically, on the second gate from river left, immediately downstream dead-center lies a huge rock, making any sort of play in that chute ill advised.) Additionally, the ever-present fishing folks are tough to convince to "share" the river for a while. Water quality is very questionable as well, making this generally easy to pass up, though it may be tempting at times, since this river caries decent flow when little else in the area has water.
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