UP Power Weekend Day Two: In Papa's Footsteps

In the outdoors, Hemingway is truly a larger-than-life character. This is especially true in the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where his "Nick Adams Stories" left a lasting footprint. These tales are all set on the Big Two Hearted River, which always mystified me. As the story begins, our hero jumps off the train in Seney, and hikes a relatively short distance to the Big Two Hearted. Anyone who knows anything about UP geography knows that would be a damn long hike! Sure enough in recent years it became more common knowledge that Hemingway didn't actually fish the Two Hearted, but preferred the smaller (and much closer to Seney) Fox River.

As a marketer, I can definitely see the appeal of the Big Two Hearted having a better name. But others have argued that perhaps he was simply a cunning angler who wanted to protect his secret spot. Add to this the Fox's reputation for some big brook trout, and  you've got a "bucket list" destination.

The Fox has been on the radar for my Dad and I for some time. The problem is it's not the easiest to access. The banks are thick with tag alders and other nasty vegetation. The holes are DEEP and large. Add to this a lot of downed timber and you have a tough river. We've looked at it for years, but neither of us has ever fished it.

This trip, we were determined to fix that. Or at least do some serious scouting. And we needed to make our way from Manistique over to the Soo by Sunday night. From previous looks, we've both seen that there are numerous access points along the river road north of Seney. But neither of us had done more serious exploration (or even gotten our feet wet). So, we dropped Dad's Focus off in Seney, in favor of the more robust Wrangler - which turned out to be a good idea given some of the roads we hit.

Basically we drove up the River Road, ducking in at each spur trail to check out access. First stop - nope; brushy, deep, no way into the river safely. Second - same. Third - mmmm, maybe. Fourth - uh-uh; no thank you. About this time I'm thinking this will be more recon than fishing.

At stop number Five, this changed.

The Fabulous Fox

A quick look over the edge revealed a beautiful sugar sand bottom. With perfect UP tannin-hued water. Brook trout Heaven! On closer inspection I found some good access points and what looked like wadeable water both up- and downstream. Decision made. I'm IN! Wader up. Cover every possible square inch of exposed skin (UP backwoods bugs are BRUTAL). And string up my rig with a tasty looking beetle.

There's a future review coming on the new Small Water Rig (or SWR, if you prefer). But suffice it to say, I'm pretty excited to have it's debut be on Hemingway's water.

As soon as I slide into the water (literally - the access point I chose took a leap-of-faith slide down the bank the last 4' or so), I know this is going to be great water. Even through waders on a hot day, that water is COLD. And cold Summer water means happy trout.

This little river is just perfect. If I were a trout, I'd live here. Banks lined with dense vegetation. Crystal clear water. Lots of nice cover in the form of overhanging cedars and downed timber.

After only a moment, I've got a rise. No commitment, but these are brookies. And brookies are more aggressive than smart. You miss a brown on a dry, you blew it. But with a brookie, just give 'em another shot. Sure enough, I've got my first fish on in a matter of moments after getting my boots wet. SWEET!

For a 5" brook trout, I did a lot of hollering. This got Dad's attention (he'd decided to let me check it out before he committed) and sent him scurrying to wader up. While he was, I scored another larger brookie - maybe 7" or so. Nice!

Dad doing his best Hemingway

Once Dad joins me, I send him up to the spot that had been working for me, while I headed downriver. Within moments, I hear the sounds of success as Dad finds fish as well.

At this point, I have to say how much I was enjoying the day. And friend know I've long given my Dad a hard time for his love of UP backwoods bushwacking. The new SWR definitely does make a difference. A day on a river like the Fox with a 9' will be a frustrating day. But with a 7' 3-weight it's just about as good as it gets.

This was the more "open" water...

We spend a couple more hours exploring up and downstream. Finding rises and a few more commitments. Extracting flies from overhanging trees, and generally having a good time. As the afternoon sun begins to sink, we grudgingly admit it's time to cover the miles to our destination for the evening at the Soo.

A truly special day that I got to share with my Dad - and Ernest. Definitely a location I will return to. It's marked in my GPS as simply "Fox - Hemingway 1".

Day Two in da Yoop, also a success!

-Sean-