# Central UP Trout Report - 3rd week of August



## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

I am fortunate enough to have a friend who has a house in in the Central UP. We used his place as a base camp to fish for trout.


We fished two research areas. The Blankety-blankety-blanky-blank, and the Blank river. I preferred the Blank river.


If it were springtime, and the water was up, maybe the Blankety-blankety-blanky-blank river would be a great place for anglers using bait or spinners, but the August time flows were not suited for using size 11 floating Rapalas. My buddy caught a few fish using spinners. Your mileage may vary...


The Blank river was more my kind of river. A lot of potential and one could spend a lifetime enjoying it. And judging from the people we spoke with and the access areas we fished, many have already done so...There are other streams in the surrounding area that are probably just as good, if not better so don't be afraid to explore and fish somewhere that no one talks about. There is a reason anglers don't talk about good trout streams. The converse may also be true; The reason people tell you to go and check out a specific stream is to keep you from fishing their lesser-known, river or creek... This is a form of seemingly helpful, disinformation.


Our next stop was the fabled Fox River which I can name on this forum. We planned to canoe from the (censored due to forum rules) down to (censored). The canoe livery claimed this was a five hour float. No way- no how. I'll bet you a hundred bucks it can't be done in that amount of time...(Unless, someone goes there with a chain saw in the meantime.)


We put our canoe in at the canoe launch and got situated to float downstream on our great adventure. I asked my buddy a question once we were in the water, Do you hear voices? Yeah, I think there are some people ahead. He whispered. There were four people directly downstream not more than twenty yards who were about to launch their kayaks discussing where they should put in considering there was a massive tree that blocked the passage...  


We hadn't even started and we had to face a portage... What The ****?! Why didn't the guy from the canoe livery tell us? Answer: He had never floated this stretch of the river. But, What the ****?! This was a State-run launch. Shouldn't they cut a lane? Or, Couldn't the kid that dropped us off have said, Don't use the canoe launch, go downstream 30 yards and then put in.


The people were nice and helped us drag our canoe, loaded with gear, out on to the bank and around the dead-fall and off we went.


Make no mistake, this is an awesome river! Every bend has you thinking there should be a trout about to smack your offering. Or, a logjam with a Master Angler class Brookie smirking while giving you the middle fin. We stopped wherever we couldn't pass up floating by and had fun fishing. We caught some nice Brookies in the 10 class but nothing over 12. I'm sure they were there, but we didn't get into them. The fish we caught were the most colorful and beautiful Brook Trout I have ever seen. They were a riot of color. If you try to capture their beauty with a camera, you're wasting your time. Just use your eyeballs and taste buds and try to get a lasting memory...(We cooked them sous-vide in butter. They were delicious.)












Something must be said about the portages: There were, I think, at least six or seven of them. Hmmm. Not fun? Arduous? Frustrating? Exasperating? I'm trying not to use expletives here... Anyway, it was Bull****! Go float that stretch of river and you will understand what I'm trying to describe. Hopefully, the DNR won't have sorted it out by the time you get there so you can get the full experience we had. Then again, I hope they do sort it out so people can enjoy their trip...


My buddy has repeatedly used the word, caves when recalling the trip. He's trying to describe the Tag Alders that line both banks of the river. Believe me, there are sections that do not allow for a 4 foot wide canoe to pass by unmolested, or unhindered. My advice, if you are in the front of the canoe; take a second to wave your paddle in front of you to avoid taking spider webs and spiders full on in the face, as you try to kill the many mosquitoes that are busy biting your hands, neck and face as you paddle through it. Only to emerge and find yourself in a tight bend, requiring a hair-pin turn and a dead-fall tree across the river that requires a portage. Did I mention the portages?


Some require you to get out of your canoe in chest high water, and then reach up to grab the roots of Cedars or living plants and climb up and on to the bank. Then you can scout a way through the dense trees to go around. The 60 degree angle required to drag the canoe up and out of the river will be a breeze. Just try not to suffer a broken leg or a twisted back when you heave your canoe and your gear around the other dead-falls only to have to launch your canoe back into chest deep water. I'm sure the mosquitoes will take it easy on you... No worries, no bother. Enjoy your trip.


We started our trip downstream at 10:20am. It was billed as a five hour float according to the canoe livery's website, giving us plenty of time to stop and fish along the way. By 5:30pm we started to wonder if we should get a move on in order to get to some of the access points we've fished in the past. By 6:30, after not fishing at all and paddling for more than an hour we hit one spot we thought we recognized. At 7:30, after what my friend described as, War paddling. for more than an hour we started to worry a bit. (side-note: Never worry. It's like praying for things you don't want to have happen.) We eventually made the (censored) just before 8pm. We placed a call to the canoe livery and the owner kindly picked us up and drove us the rest of the way down to where our vehicle was parked on (censored).


I think we realistically fished about 1/3 of the water we floated that day. I know it would have been nice to have taken some pictures but between the portaging, the war-paddling, the mosquitoes and the Tag Alders it wasn't going to happen. We were bordering on survival mode by the end.




We also got to fish one of my favorite rivers, The Blankety-blank. The Blankety-Blank is the UP's version of my favorite stream in the LP, which is also an unmentionable river. Browns and Brookies, Plenty of resident Browns in the two-foot class that have never seen anything other than a logjam. National forest. What could be better? Answer: Blueberries. We found a clearing on our way to the river that was loaded. I filled a two quart container to the brim in ten minutes with my fancy-new Huckleberry rake, no exaggeration. I had two quarts in ten minutes, and you wouldn't have known we were there, there were that many.


We fished some new access points (to us, at least) and caught a few fish and missed a few. There are logjams that a trout could live for its entire life without ever having to suffer the indignity of looking at an anglers offering. My buddy caught a brown trout a tad longer than two feet and decided to have it mounted. It was a nice fish. We had to tag-team to land it. It was caught on some logs and we had to take turns with the rod and the net. There was a lot of talking about calming down and, Remember that fish on the Jordan I lost, let's figure this out... etc. It was a team effort. I'm happy he got his trophy in the end.












All in all, it was a great trip. I take my hat off to the people who live there in the UP all year long and make a living. It can't be easy. Also, you can't go wrong with a Clyde's burger... - Never made it to the Camel Rider's Club, we had our own barbecue and beverages of choice...


P.S. To the Yoopers: Thanks for letting us trolls who live under the bridge visit your back yard. Some of us get it, others are still learning...please, bear with us. Thank you, for the hospitality you showed us.


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## fishrod (Oct 3, 2008)

Sounds like a blast despite the portages, my brother in laws parents have a cabin in central up also, we do the same thing every year and wouldn't miss it.


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## neazor91 (Aug 4, 2008)

The Fox is part of the state natural rivers program. Part of what makes the river natural and the fishing good, is all the wood in the river. I hope we can keep it that way. There are plenty of other rivers that are wide open for canoeing.
I'm glad you caught some fish and had a good time.

Mike


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## Jfish (Sep 22, 2010)

I love the central UP as I have a place not far from camel riders. Glad that you enjoyed blank river


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## slabstar (Feb 25, 2009)

:lol: LMFAO :lol:

Blank report ya blanking blanky! :lol:


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

neazor91 said:


> The Fox is part of the state natural rivers program. Part of what makes the river natural and the fishing good, is all the wood in the river. I hope we can keep it that way. There are plenty of other rivers that are wide open for canoeing.
> I'm glad you caught some fish and had a good time.
> 
> Mike


 I take your point, Mike. There are a few National Wild & Scenic rivers in the state that have deadfalls that cross both banks. The difference is that, often a six foot wide section has been cut to allow for small watercraft. This also provides a tempting chute to cast a lure. Is it simply that the Fox is managed by the State and not to Feds that there are no cuts? Even if they did cut a passage, you would have to admit it would still be a tough river to wade... Again, I take your point. Easier passage would mean more traffic and take away from the experience. Thanks for the comments.


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## Magnet (Mar 2, 2001)

drgulian said:


> - Never made it to the Camel Rider's Club, we had our own barbecue and beverages of choice...


There's a memory right there! I have a place on the Blank Blanky Blank River. My wife and I used to phone the Camel Rider's Club to make a dinner reservation (they get busy on the weekends) and then ride over there on quads for dinner. The last time we went there (a couple years ago), there was an "old lady" sitting in the corner and while we were eating dinner the "old lady" spent the whole time staring at my wife while she ate. (When I say "old lady", I mean real old. She made me feel young and we're considered old by most. LOL.) Anyway, it creeped my wife out and we haven't been back in there since. The food was always good though. Now we are more apt to ride up to the Buckhorn Resort or even over to the Jack Pine near Steuben. I'd tell you how great the fishing can be on the Blank Blanky Blank River, but I'm sworn to secrecy.

Sounds like you had a memorable trip. Nice job on the fish!!


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## concentroutin (Jan 7, 2014)

Great report and pics. I appreciate the humor and felt like I was there. Holy brown!


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

I'm glad that a few readers were able to get my brand of humor and I was able to make a few people laugh. In all seriousness, I think the forum policy is a sound one, in regards to not naming names. Please, let's keep the spirit of this forum and keep comments general and not specific when talking about places I was never within a 100 mile radius of...or any other rivers for that matter. Thanks for the positive comments, and Private Messages I have received. Cheers.


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## cruiseplanner1 (Aug 6, 2012)

A very nice story and great pictures. What a nice brown. Took him a few years to get that big in the UP. Fish the Fox also and it is tough. Had a few guys drop out of going up there with me. Too hard on them.


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## irishmanusa (Mar 10, 2009)

Lots of Blueberries - spy any Black Bears? 'Tis the start of the "get fat or die in the winter" eating season.
Nice report, nice fish - Glad you enjoyed.


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

irishmanusa said:


> Lots of Blueberries - spy any Black Bears? 'Tis the start of the &quot;get fat or die in the winter&quot; eating season.
> Nice report, nice fish - Glad you enjoyed.


 We never saw any Black Bears on our trip. I did hear a loud crash and bang in the forest one time nearby when I got out on to the bank... My friend thought I was injured. It was either a large animal or a strong wind. (The air was calm that day.)

Oddly, we never saw any deer. We did see some turkeys in the blueberry patch though.

The only other remarkable siting was a Bald Eagle sitting in a Tamarack right off of my friend's porch.


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