Fox

Hit this Monday (June 8) with Appleton gauge at 7000, and KU reporting 'total gate opening' of 6', which they translate as 1850 cfs in the bypassed channel (the river). This is about half the flow planned for the four scheduled releases (scheduled at 11'/3340cfs). At this (6'/1850cfs) flow, Ten Boat Wave did not really exist, but Island Street Wave was a pretty sweet surf, allowing a few good spins before I flushed (not regainable) and headed down. Took the left channel and had a few (mostly tame) surfs on various wave/holes there, but nothing too good or exciting, and nothing regainable if I missed or flushed, thus found that side mostly frustrating. At end of island, paddled 'upstream', across to the new landing below the right channel, carried up to put in from the cement shoulder under Elm Street (southern bridge) to play 'the Trolls'. Leftmost was lame/tame/unplayable, one of the center ones looked a bit intimidating (a bit too 'flippy' at this flow), but the other center slot and the rightmost 'troll' were SWEET (though admittedly a tad shallow) for a fine variety of surfs and spins. There was definitely some scrape heading down toward the right side of UGH (the 'Uniforn Gnarly Hydraulic'). No problem dropping through the right at this flow, but the center/left side was definitely (as almost always) boily/keepy. At this flow I was able to (very carefully) boat-scout various locations on the 'ogee wall' (the lower dam) by maintaining an upstream ferry and paddling near enough to see over/beyond the dam. (THIS WOULD NOT BE SAFE/FEASIBLE AT RELEASE LEVELS!!!) I ran a few routes I had never explored before, and then headed to the 'Mystery' or 'Hidden' channel, and found the wave there to be EXCELLENT! Very nice pile to the left, smooth glassy to the right. Not regainable in boat, but it was definitely worth carrying up two or three times to relaunch and replay this fine big powerful wave! ************************************************************************************************** Bottom line (at least for me, on this day) this was TOTALLY a fun level, and I look forward to hitting it on some of the release days!

As of 2015, a quite substantial gate has been placed under the main street (Hwy.55) bridge. A 'FOB' (pass key) is required to access this put-in location. This may be purchased weekdays from Kaukauna Utilities, or weekends from the 1000 Islands Nature Center.

Looking across the main channel alongside the school grounds (the general vicinity of 'Ten Boat Wave', which was not 'in' at the pictured flows -- Appleton gauge at 7000cfs, KU reporting one gate, 6' open, for 1850 cfs in channel) shows how the river is flanked by tall, inescapable, vertical cement walls in this early stretch.

An 'improved' launch site has been created. I put 'improved' in quotes because (1) it is metal grate, which is not real boat-friendly, and (2) even more relevantly, it is so tall that it will be unusable at low-to-moderate flows, as you will be so far off the water, and dropping into very shallow water over bedrock.
I understand it was made this tall to accommodate high spring flows (hopefully without damage at ice-off and such). However, at lower flows, it appears it may be necessary to step down from it to attempt put-in from a cement ledge (or who-knows-what other accommodation).

The Far-Right tunnel under the Elm Street bridge, in the right channel of the mid-section of the run, as seen from just upstream. (Appleton gauge reading: 7000 cfs; KU reporting 6' opening on dam, or 1850 cfs in the main river channel. Perhaps something less than half of that goes down the right-hand midsection channel to be split among the four tunnels of this bridge.)

This is the 'Uniform Gnarly Hydraulic' in the river-right channel below the Elm Street bridge at a low-moderate flow (KU reported 12'/3630cfs/2gates). At this flow, there was bedrock contact sliding down toward this wave. Far river-left (far background in photo) would have been a total grunge at this flow. The Uniform Gnarly Hydraulic (UGH) is center-frame, and *might* be escapable at this flow, but if you look close, you can see how uniform it is and how far downstream the boil is even at the relatively lower flow. Down river-right, water sheeted shallow into a short wave which I tried a few times, but was unable to get any rides on. NOTE: keep in mind that half (or more) of the flow is over in the left channel around the main island, so flow actually present through here is likely less than 1800 cfs, and (with the width of the river, and each of its various channels) that ends up being pretty thin flow!

(Edited info from 'BT100' on 2014.03.09):
Changes/updates to Kaukauna Utilities Badger plant have been completed, so river flow in the bypassed channel will be back to the normal (reduced) flows. I.E., using the gauge for Fox River in Appleton, you must now subtract 5,200 cfs to *approximate* flow in the bypassed (natural) channel here. As always, check the KU website for more accurate reading of the gate settings and corresponding flow in the natural channel.

At flows of 'three gates' or more, some will still use the normal put-in (which may be sketchy) for epic action on 'Island St. Wave'. For others, an option might be to seal-launch downstream, below the railroad trestle on river left. At these flows, Mystery Channel was outstanding, and Goose Ledges were good too!

Site visit to Fox River to evaluate river access opportunities associated with the new hydropower license.

5,600 cfs today Starting at 1000 Island Nature Center, ran the boney channel into the first main channel going river left of 1000 Islands. This channel has Infant Falls up towards the base of the dam. Perfect level to run the falls, 50 yards downstream was a great little sufing wave. Thinking about taking the stand up board back for this one. This entire channel below Infant Falls is great for beginners, couple eddies, a wave, ferrying, no consequence below.
Next main channel over (Hidden Channel) too much water for the Mystery Wave.
Eddy modification continues on river right in hopes of making wave attainment here more consistent. Alas, we were not shut out on surfing though. 20 yards downstream of the Mystery Wave was a super nice, fast wave- perfect for short playboats. Eddy service to boot, but washing off meant a carry back up.
Met an open boater from Appleton just finishing up his day when we got there.
Lake Winnebago gets drawn down in the fall. This lower section should keep running thru October. Great color, great place to explore, features somewhat limted, but definately still worth the effort.

Kaukauna Dam controls flows in this reach and is used to divert the river for hydropower.
Fox River downstream of Kaukauna Dam at winter flow.

The wave in the Hidden Channel on the downstream side of the lowhead dam.

This photo shows a typical wave/hole in the left channel (around the island, described in 'Part II' of the description). This lies between the railroad bridge and the bridge on Elm Street over the left channel.
Looking down from the bridge onto Island Street Wave. In the background downstream lies the railroad bridge and the island which signals the beginning of the middle section (Part II) of this run, where you have to choose which side of the island you wish to run/play.
Looking downstream from Elm Street. This is the left-channel around the island (which is the right shoreline in the photo). The waves here can provide sweet, easy surfing. The more brightly-lit trees In the background (to the upper-left in the photo, in contrast to the darker, shadowed trees on the island), stand immediately downstream of the lower diagonal low-head dam which is mentioned in the description for this reach.
This photo shows the large eddy downstream river-left below Elm Street, and shows some of the waves which can form and provide easier surf opportunities. Immediately upstream of the trees (in the center-background of the photo) is the left side of the diagonal-sweeping low-head dam mentioned in the river description.
This is the wave/hole tight river-left immediately downstream of the Elm Street bridge over the left-channel around the island (as described in 'Part II' of the river description).