# Fox River



## cruiseplanner1

My brother and I just returned from a few days this week fishing up on the Fox. We did catch some fish but cut our outing short due to the many deadfalls in the stream. There have been quite a few the last five years but the spruce trees falling in that died recently from Spruce Budworms make it much more difficult to fish. About as soon as you finish one portage you do another. We did catch some decent fish but no big brookies this year. Still was fun to get up there and relax. Cannot believe how many people are all over the UP this year. I thought it was bad the last five years but crazy this summer.


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## wpmisport

Should be some big fish there in the future, unless someone cuts them out like is done down state in some places.


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## PunyTrout

If the portages don't get you the quicksand will... 

That river is in a class by itself.


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## Martin Looker

Looks like lots of new cover to help grow some nice big brookies.


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## cruiseplanner1

Yes it definitely is a big boys stream as a biologist told me earlier. And I am 65 so not sure how much more of that i can take.


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## Forest Meister

PunyTrout said:


> If the portages don't get you the quicksand will...
> 
> That river is in a class by itself.


Quicksand, or bottomless sucking muck holes are not uncommon at all in the UP, especially the eastern part where streams run through tag alder, cedar/spruce, and old beaver meadows. Harmless looking spring seeps are often unusually deceiving There are streams I prefer not to fish alone because of past issues. FM


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## Stubee

Man! It’s been years but that looks like a float I did on the E Branch. We needed two chainsaws because there were a lotta spots where portaging around was impossible with my Jon boat. Never saw the main stream like that. 

We caught one nice and surprising brown IIRC that day but nothing else, likely because of all the noise we made breaking branches and dragging the boat over stuff. Ugh.


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## Matt3ddsteel

Forest Meister said:


> Quicksand, or bottomless sucking muck holes are not uncommon at all in the UP, especially the eastern part where streams run through tag alder, cedar/spruce, and old beaver meadows. Harmless looking spring seeps are often unusually deceiving There are streams I prefer not to fish alone because of past issues. FM


 My dad was trout fishing by himself years ago and got caught in a muckhole. Said he almost didn't get out. Was about to start yelling for help..lol.


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## UPEsox

Matt3ddsteel said:


> My dad was trout fishing by himself years ago and got caught in a muckhole. Said he almost didn't get out. Was about to start yelling for help..lol.


Wonder what was stronger the urge to get out or the urge to keep the location of his spot safe lol


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## hoopers1992

My brother-in-law and I were just there as well. I've never seen the State Forest campground so full. Many fish caught but nothing of any size. I did much better in June - that's always my favorite time to visit the Fox. However, the number of small fish combined with the ever-increasing deadfalls should make for some beautiful big fish in the coming years.

The Fox is special to me because it's the first place I ever caught a legal size brookie, as well as the first place I ever caught my limit. Lots of great streams in Marquette County where I live but I'm always drawn back to the Fox. 



cruiseplanner1 said:


> My brother and I just returned from a few days this week fishing up on the Fox. We did catch some fish but cut our outing short due to the many deadfalls in the stream. There have been quite a few the last five years but the spruce trees falling in that died recently from Spruce Budworms make it much more difficult to fish. About as soon as you finish one portage you do another. We did catch some decent fish but no big brookies this year. Still was fun to get up there and relax. Cannot believe how many people are all over the UP this year. I thought it was bad the last five years but crazy this summer.
> View attachment 564997
> View attachment 564999


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## Steve

I swore I would never go back after my last outing there.


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## Martin Looker

But that is where the good rookies live.


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## UPEsox

hoopers1992 said:


> Lots of great streams in Marquette County where I live but I'm always drawn back to the Fox.


Love being able to easily fish Superior watershed then driving about 10 minutes and fishing Lake Michigan watershed


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## PunyTrout

UPEsox said:


> Love being able to easily fish Superior watershed then driving about 10 minutes and fishing Lake Michigan watershed



I was actually riding shotgun studying the map and realized that the very hill on the road we were on was the UP 'continental divide' of the watersheds flowing to lake Superior or Michigan. 

We weren't too far from the E branch of the Fox if I recall correctly.

It was a fun observation at the time.


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## Forest Meister

PunyTrout said:


> I was actually riding shotgun studying the map and realized that the very hill on the road we were on was the UP 'continental divide' of the watersheds flowing to lake Superior or Michigan.
> 
> We weren't too far from the E branch of the Fox if I recall correctly.
> 
> It was a fun observation at the time.


You got that one, but that divide goes for hundreds of miles. Your next assignment is a bit more challenging, get your pickup to the divide between the Superior, Michigan, and Huron watersheds. FM


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## Gordon Casey

Forest Meister said:


> You got that one, but that divide goes for hundreds of miles. Your next assignment is a bit more challenging, get your pickup to the divide between the Superior, Michigan, and Huron watersheds. FM


Professor please tell us...we are in suspense.


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## PunyTrout

Forest Meister said:


> You got that one, but that divide goes for hundreds of miles. Your next assignment is a bit more challenging, get your pickup to the divide between the Superior, Michigan, and Huron watersheds. FM





Gordon Casey said:


> Professor please tell us...we are in suspense.



I'm guessing it has something to do with the Saint Mary's River and Sault Ste. Marie...

Or Hessel.


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## -Axiom-

Lake Michigan & Huron are 1 lake not 2...


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## Gordon Casey

-Axiom- said:


> Lake Michigan & Huron are 1 lake not 2...


2 lakes same water level. That's like saying Saginaw Bay and The North Channel should be called Lake Huron.


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## B.Jarvinen

Forest Meister said:


> You got that one, but that divide goes for hundreds of miles. Your next assignment is a bit more challenging, get your pickup to the divide between the Superior, Michigan, and Huron watersheds. FM


I know that particular swamp. Nice area. Could be my last-before-snow spot to work. Good spot for Hares, but not a good place to lose track of a dog. 


Another year, another still-haven’t-fished-the-Fox. Some day. Rivers without smolts are where it’s @


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## Big Medicine

cruiseplanner1 said:


> My brother and I just returned from a few days this week fishing up on the Fox. We did catch some fish but cut our outing short due to the many deadfalls in the stream. There have been quite a few the last five years but the spruce trees falling in that died recently from Spruce Budworms make it much more difficult to fish. About as soon as you finish one portage you do another. We did catch some decent fish but no big brookies this year. Still was fun to get up there and relax. Cannot believe how many people are all over the UP this year. I thought it was bad the last five years but crazy this summer.
> View attachment 564997
> View attachment 564999


I noticed alot of downed spruce in some of the areas I was fishing. You're right about the people being everywhere. The amount of traffic made it seem like a holiday weekend.


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## Benzie Rover

Forest Meister said:


> You got that one, but that divide goes for hundreds of miles. Your next assignment is a bit more challenging, get your pickup to the divide between the Superior, Michigan, and Huron watersheds. FM


There is a spot just off the Hiawatha highway, east of Rexton, west of Trout Lake that meets such criteria.


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## B.Jarvinen

Met a guy on a Lake Michigan pier last night who told me he was all about hitting the Fox for those monster Coasters. I quit taking him very seriously after that.


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## Martin Looker

How the heck do those coasters get into the Fox?


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## Gordon Casey

Martin Looker said:


> How the heck do those coasters get into the Fox?


Bald eagles!!


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## Shoeman

up the Manistique?


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## eucman

B.Jarvinen said:


> Met a guy on a Lake Michigan pier last night who told me he was all about hitting the Fox for those monster Coasters. I quit taking him very seriously after that.


Maybe he's channeling Ernest Hemingway. I thought I read Hemingway wrote of the Two Hearted but was actually fishing the Fox?


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## B.Jarvinen

You are correct. And that is probably what the random-guy-on-pier did too, in reverse. Hemingway did it deliberately though. Random-guy-on-pier was just one of those who couldn’t stop the one up fishing story about his gear, his catches, etc., etc. When I said I like fishing in the U.P. his “Fox” story came out. I could only interrupt to say first “I haven’t fished it yet” and a bit later “oh I know where it is.” 

Maybe next year. This year though, things are looking good for me to try the Brule...

But heavier on my mind is - 23 days left on Type 1 right now...


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## B.Jarvinen

Was reminded yesterday of a wholly different reason I want to float the Fox someday - have heard it’s floodplain can be absolutely loaded with Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago), which is a great shrub for wildlife. And shrub seed is always in strong demand at nurseries as less and less people are willing to do seed collecting work. 

I’m not too excited about asking USFWS for a permit to pick seed though, as your average Federal employee thinks anything “commercial” is some sort of 19th century timber baron pillaging destruction of ‘their’ pet area, rather than just someone trying to scratch out $200 via a day or two of work filling 4 five gallon buckets with berries. Possibly to ultimately create seedlings that would get planted at - a Wildlife Refuge. 

Still, I eventually hope to find a point A to point B floatable segment that would carry me past a whole bunch of Nannyberry. Then I could start tryin’ to figure out the excitements of a bunch of buckets in a canoe...but I would be “working” even though I would have to take an ultra-light rod along with, you know, for some daily protein.


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## Martin Looker

The most fun I have had on the Fox was probably 25 or so years ago when our Scout troop hiked the Fox River pathway. We started at the Seney camp ground and hiked to Kingston Lake. Most of the boys had never seen a Brook trout let alone eating them. When we got to the upper part of the river we taught them how to catch, clean and eat them. Some of those young men still tell me that was the best hike ever and that they are still fishing trout.


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## Steve

Martin Looker said:


> The most fun I have had on the Fox was probably 25 or so years ago when our Scout troop hiked the Fox River pathway. We started at the Seney camp ground and hiked to Kingston Lake. Most of the boys had never seen a Brook trout let alone eating them. When we got to the upper part of the river we taught them how to catch, clean and eat them. Some of those young men still tell me that was the best hike ever and that they are still fishing trout.


What a great experience for those young men.


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## cruiseplanner1

B.Jarvinen said:


> Was reminded yesterday of a wholly different reason I want to float the Fox someday - have heard it’s floodplain can be absolutely loaded with Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago), which is a great shrub for wildlife. And shrub seed is always in strong demand at nurseries as less and less people are willing to do seed collecting work.
> 
> I’m not too excited about asking USFWS for a permit to pick seed though, as your average Federal employee thinks anything “commercial” is some sort of 19th century timber baron pillaging destruction of ‘their’ pet area, rather than just someone trying to scratch out $200 via a day or two of work filling 4 five gallon buckets with berries. Possibly to ultimately create seedlings that would get planted at - a Wildlife Refuge.
> 
> Still, I eventually hope to find a point A to point B floatable segment that would carry me past a whole bunch of Nannyberry. Then I could start tryin’ to figure out the excitements of a bunch of buckets in a canoe...but I would be “working” even though I would have to take an ultra-light rod along with, you know, for some daily protein.


What is a nannyberry and what does it look like? Is that the proper name for it? Bush or tree? I am only asking so many questions because we have one we call a saercherry in that area. Looks kind of like a crabapple and turns red/purple in late June.


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## B.Jarvinen

It is a “small tree” in places up to 20’ tall. Often a large shrub colony, prefers wet soil areas. Large white flowers in May. Has an edible fruit that turns blue when fully ripe; however the stone is so large there is not much food reward for time spent picking it but is a nice nibble/snack. Tastes like Dates. Sometimes called an “ice cream food” for wildlife as the fruit is generally all taken as soon as it ripens, right around now.


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## B.Jarvinen

A shrub fruit ripening in the east U.P. in late June or early July would be a Juneberry/Serviceberry/“Saskatoon” of the _Amelanchier_ genus. Also very tasty; a little bit seedier than Blueberries but useable in recipes. Natives would use it as one option for creating “Pemmican” I believe. In Canada Saskatoons are a commercial fruit sold in stores and offered at U-pick orchards, etc. using large fruited cultivars.


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## cruiseplanner1

Yes that Serviceberry is the one I see a lot of and they are quite good when ripe. You are correct they have quite a few seeds that are larger than blueberries. I seen a tree where a bear that morning just ripped some huge limbs down to eat them.


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## fishinDon

Martin Looker said:


> The most fun I have had on the Fox was probably 25 or so years ago when our Scout troop hiked the Fox River pathway. We started at the Seney camp ground and hiked to Kingston Lake. Most of the boys had never seen a Brook trout let alone eating them. When we got to the upper part of the river we taught them how to catch, clean and eat them. Some of those young men still tell me that was the best hike ever and that they are still fishing trout.


Crazy story because I was still a young man but I think I was at Kingston lake fishing with my dad when the scout troop showed up. it stands out to me because I had been there several times with family over the years and never remember seeing another person outside of our group except for that day. Was this scout trip only one time or multiple years?


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## Martin Looker

We did that hike in 1990 and only did it one time. We set up camp at Kingston lake the Scouts went fishing while the adults made supper the last night of camp. That's when a right nasty thunder storm hit. Every thing we had got soaked so we packed up and came home early.


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## Timothy Barner

Don't tell anyone but that is where the big brookies hide...I'll be on that "other branch" in late Sept. where no sane fisherman ever goes. Hoping for some rain in Sept.


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