Rich Clemens

Wow. 'Nuff said. How'd I miss this. ???

Isn't that cheating Bet you will get some cool shots when the water is clear. Pretty cool looking ride.

Nothing like a feisty small-mouth to finish the day. Congrats on the PB.

Very nice. Thanks for posting the pic.

Nice going guys. Gotta try those waters one of these days.

Yes - Same stretch as I fish, but lower. You are correct in that the Rapids just below Green Bay Lodge would separate us. I went there once - Nothing I would even attempt to run. We drive right by the place on the way to Rainbow and Wolseley. Can't see the camp from the road and I never stopped by to take a look at it - should do that one of these times. Problem is, we take our dogs with us and many places do not allow pets - so we are somewhat limited on the camps we use.

I would agree here too. I heard the Kawarthas is good if you are looking on quantity. I've heard fish in the 30's/40's are common, but not the really big girls. Never fished the Kawarthas, but I love the Canadian Shield and I'm looking for that elusive 50" - and I know they are up there. One of these years.

The weeds seem consistent as in past years - at least on the spots that I have fished before. The sand bar at the launch there at Wolseley is less than a foot under the water now, so you have to be careful when launching / loading - and go out around it. Saw more than one boat churn up the sand and mud there. The only "real" hit that I had, fishing out of Wolseley, came off a small point on an island with a rocky shoal and some weeds around it. Not a big area, but it looked good. Fishing purely cabbage beds (no rocks) - I saw nothing at all that wek. Strange though - I fished the same kind of structure at Rainbow Camp and nailed 3.

Interesting you say that. While we were at Wolseley Lodge, we met another couple who's family has been going to Schell's camp for many years. It sounds like it is under new ownership, new rates/fees, etc. This couple made it sound like they have their regular clients and not much interested in new people. Doesn't sound like the same place anymore - to them anyway From what they said, they probably would not go back there again. (Just relaying what one couple said to us - so take it for what it may be worth. Could even be something personal with this couple too).

THAT'S NOT FAIR ..... I wanna come back up again. I seem to be on a bit of a roll. Ya'll have a great time and I want to see lots of pics of really BIG fish. The three I caught on the North Channel of the French were all on a Double Cow-Girl. Black Skirt and Nickel. Blades. This has been my go-to lure the past two years and is doing quite well for me. All of mine came while fishing cabbage beds - burning the lure over the top. Best of luck guys - go get 'em

5 Ontario muskies in the boat this year for me .... EXCELLENT YEAR.

Other than a couple day trips back here at home, the bulk of my fishing is my thrwee weeks in Ontario each year.

Sweet fish and a big congrats to you. The more you catch, the better and faster you get with the release. It is a learning experience and it applies equally to me. After each catch, I kinda look back over what I did and what I may have been able to do differently - if anything. I'm sure even the "pro's" have a difficult release here and there. Bashing a fisherman is not a positive learning experience for the angler and is not what we should be doing on this site - or any other. Anyway, congrats on such a great catch.

I was happy with three in one week - and here you guys come in with 10. Can't imagine that kind of week, but I can dream. Congrats Tom. Appreciate you taking the time to put up a report.

Hey !!!!!! It spell checked better than suick did. Stoopid phone fixes the words a bit.

Heard you got one and waiting to see the pic. I tried a top raider and patsy gave a suick a try one evening, but no takers. Glad to see you got one. Love to see the big girls.

Well, our annual two-week trip to the French River is all history now. Sure was great to get away for a couple weeks, but back to reality tomorrow (work). As we prepared, the weather did not look all that good for the trip north as it looked like we would be in the rain most of the way. Not a good thing when we need to let the dogs out once in a while. We started out and had some rain/mist off and on. Stopped in Ellicottville NY to let the dogs out and we were lucky that is was not raining. Just as we pulled out, she started raining and it continued until we were near Parry Sound. Good to see some sensible driving on the QEW as most (most) folks were slowing down as it was coming down hard and somewhat windy. I was surprised that I only saw one accident and it did not look bad (good thing). Our first week was spent at Wolseley Lodge on Wolseley Bay. I heard that LafroyFisherman was at FishTails and BigCreekDad was at Crane's the same week. Hoping we would get a chance to meet up at some point. Well, we got checked in, unpacked, and the boat ready - off we went. Water levels are down a bit and the sand bar at the launch was just under the surface - always makes things a little interesting. I had some spots already picked out that I wanted to hiot off and on during the week as I have seen musky there before. Unfortunately, nothing was happening with the catching the day we arrived. Spoke to others in camp and they said it has been tough fishing for a while now up there. I won't bore you with all the day-by-day not catching anything kind of a report, but this first week was my 'personal' worst ever up there. Fishing the entire week on many spots where there 'should be a musky' produced NO results. On Sunday, I did have the pleasure of meeting LefroyFisherman out on the water. We exchanged a few words of encouragement and off our separate ways. We had hoped to meet up later on in camp, but unfortunately, we couldn't make it happen -and- LefroyFisherman was only there for a short time. (Sorry bud - maybe our paths will cross again soon). Sunday was the day we caught our only fish. Yes, between Patsy and I, we caught a single pike all week. Tough Fishing - YUP. Now, Sunday evening, I was fishing off an island that had a rocky shoal and a nice weed bed around it. One cast and I had something nice hit the lure. Setting the hook and all I see is my lure darting back towards me in the water - no fish. (Insert words of disgust here). The pike I caught was a respectable 37 inches. One fish all week - that's it. Even through the week, I only heard of two muskies being caught and none by anyone staying at Wolseley. I just have to wonder if there is just too much fishing pressure there - others mentioned this as well? Four camps in close proximity and each one with a fair number of guests, makes for a lot of boats on the water. There were times during the week when I had specific spots I wanted to hit - only to find one or two other boats already there. The last day, I wanted to hit my island spot one last time. When I arrived, there was another boat just around the side of the island - not close to where I wanted to be. As we began fishing, the other boat moves on around and drifts/fishes through the area I was going - I could almost cast into his boat. Turn around as I hear other boats and two more pull up to the same area. So there ended up 4 boats in the same area. Time to move on to another spot. Unfortunately, we never do well for musky at Wolseley (and I know they are there), so we may have made our last trip there - we didn't book for next year. On Wednesday of that first week, I met a guy named "Luke" and he recognized the OFC hat and said he has seen our site and was checking out some of the reports. Luke mentioned actually signing up and I sure hope he does. LUKE ... YOU OUT THERE ???? On Thursday of this first week, we also had the pleasure of meeting TomKat from the board. Had a few little chats as well. (Great to meet you). Never did cross paths with BigCreekDad, but maybe someday. Got to meet two other OFC'rs and possibly a new member. Really enjoyed that. We packed up Friday evening and headed our for Rainbow Camp on the North Channel - where we had a really great week last year, boating 3 muskies and 2 of them at 49". So, we had high hopes for this second week. We also have some really good friends that own a trailer right next to the cabin we rent and we have a good time together. I get up that Saturday am, clean up a bit and get my coffee. Patsy gets up a bit later and guess what - NO POWER. POWER is out all across the camp and they have the generator running for the lodge. Found out later on it is wide spread over the entire region of Ontario. Great - now how are we going to get gas for the boat and groceries for the second week. As luck would have it, the gas station in Noelville had a generator to run the pumps, so at least we could get some gas in the boat. It ended up being around 4:00pm when the camp finally got power back. Now big deal - I had gas in the boat and water to fish. Anyway, let's start the report on Rainbow Camp. This is our 9th year in a row here and we really enjoy it there. Our Cabin is considered a one-bedroom cabin, which is actually a trailer with some additions. Lots of room and we sit up on the rocks and have a great view out over the water. Wrap around deck and lots of room out the front and back for the dogs to get out. Oh yeah, fishing. After getting checked in and unpacked, we started trolling down the river and maybe trolled for about 1/2 hour. Saw a nice stretch of reed beds and cabbage, so we stopped for some casting. After about 15-20 minutes, WHAM, fish on. Patsy grabbed the net and we boated a nice 39" musky. Not the 50 I am looking for, but a great start to the week. Next day, Sunday, produced only a couple pike. We had a fair amount of rain and some really windy days this week. Couple nice North Channel Pike: So, here comes Monday and a front moving in over-nioght and into the next morning, so out we head to see if the big girls are hungry. So, I'm casting into the reed line and during the retrieve, there is a big swirl around my bait, but nothing hit. Bringing the lure on in, nothing is following. So I quickly cast back out, beyond the swirl and start the retrieve. HERE SHE COMES. Start into the figure 8 and WHAM, fish on. Landed a nice thick/heavy 46" musky. Not 10 minutes after releasing this fish, another nice swirl around the bait. Additionl casting around the area produced no results. Later on that same evening, I had another fish hit the lure, but the hookset produced NOTHING. One landed and seeing two others, raised the excitement level of course. Nothing more that evening. Tuesday morning, we are fishing in the rain, hoping the girls would still be a wee bit hungry. During the course of the morning, I had one fish follow and seem interested during the figure-8. She took one swipe at the lure, but missed it and off she went. Later the same morning, I had another follow the lure, but this one did not seem interested and slowly swim away. Saw two fish during the rain, but nothing to show for it - other than the excitement to even see them. Not much happening for a few days, although we tried. Really windy a couple days and mixed in with cool temps and rain. Although we kept trying off and on, no fish were to be seen. Thursday evening, another pre-frontal considition, so out we went. We have to go through a small channel to get to a bay we like to fish. This channel is maybe 6-7 feet deep and weedy. One the way through, Patsy thought she saw a fish surface. Didn't think anything of it at the time (I DO NOW), we continued on into the bay. We fished the weed-beds and saw nothing. As I was working my way back to the channel, I too saw the fish break the surface and it sure looked like a musky. So, on my second cast to the area, here she comes. Just started my first leg of the fig-8 and WHAM - she takes it. This one put up a big fight, coming out of the water a couple times and took a couple nice long runs. Eventually, we were able to boat her and she came in around 43". That was it for the week. After spending one entire week catching nothing but a single pike, Rainbow Camp came through for us again. Boated three muskies in a single week (a new record for me anyway) and a couple pike. Much better fishing. So, what else to do but to book TWO WEEKS here for September 2013. I'm ready for my 50 now. :clapping: Another tough day of fishing. Fantastic Scenery up there.

Simply AWESOME !!!!

Fantastic ... Congrats. I had one too follow me in and hit on the 8. Quite the adrenaline rush for sure.

Real heavy fog yesterday am that didn't lift until about 8:30am or so. One small boat went out and made it as far as Totum point and stopped due to no visibility. I heard they just fished right behind Totum point and hooked into one. Believe they lost her before getting her boated. Not sure how big. Heard of another being caught down he North Channel. Not hearing much at all of big girls eing landed this week. Should it surprise me as I have ever landed one here. Seen quite a few over the years, but no commits.

Been windy a couple days now. My usual spots were a little tough to hold. Had one ski hit, but the hook- set missed it's mark. Had another follow, so I know where they are.

For me.... Probably. For others .... Nah

Pike. 1/2 inch less than my PB.

We broke the skunk this am. Beautiful weather up here now.

Glad you made it back home. Although we met out on the water, I was looking for you guys coming in last evening. Saw your boat was not at the dock when we got back, thought you may still be out. Not a fish to be seen by us on Saturday evening and nothing yesterday either. May take a couple days for things to settle down. Heard one was caught near the North Channel, but no details on size, nor if it was someone in camp. Heading out soon, waiting for the fog to lift a bit.