French River Report

[Rich Clemens]

Sure do wish I had more to report than this ... but that's the way she goes.

 

Left home on the 14th and crossed the border with no problems. Approaching St. Catherines and the skies were getting cloudy, so we flip on the lights. Took a peek back and could not see any lights on the trailer, even though I checked them out before we left. Pulled off the currency exchange place (which was closed). Double-checked the connections, played with the wiring ... still no running lights. Turn signals and break lights working fine. Checked the fuses in the cab and none were blown. Getting dark, starting to rain, and alone in the parking lot with no facilities. Took a chance and went to the next exit as we could not drive like that and thankfully, there was a motel there that would accept our two dogs .... for a fee of course. That was 160 bucks I wasn't planning to spend. Waiting to morning, no rain, so we proceeded to the French Rivera area in daylight and would check in with a local marina. Glad we still had break lights and turn signals. After checking it out a little more, mechanically challenged as I am, there is another fuse box under the hood. Checking the fuses for the trailer and there she is ... a blown fuse. Replace the fuse and good to go.

 

We got into Rainbow Camp on the North Channel early Saturday afternoon and my father and step-mother were already in camp. We talked them into driving over from the Rideau Area to spend the week together. Not sure how many more times I can fish with my father in Canada (which he also loves), so this was a real treat to spend the week together.

 

After the unpacking, being the gentlemen we are, we did not want to get in the ladies way while they were putting things away. So, to save a lot of grief, we loaded up for a bit of fishing. After giving Dad a brief tour of the river, and the known hazards, we settled into a little bay where I had raised a musky on a previous trip. After casting for a little while, guess who still lives there ... my musky. She made a pass at the lure boat-side, so into the figure-8 I go. Guessing she was around 40" +/-. About 10-15 seconds later, she makes another pass, but is by no means a hot fish. Kept up the figure-8 for a while, and never saw her again. I returned several times at different times during the week, but she was not to be seen again. No musky that week, but my wife did manage a nice bass. Over-all, we only caught a couple fish ... nothing picture worthy. I had raised a musky at a couple other locations in past years, but this one is the only one I saw.

 

The time with my dad was worth far more than any fish we may have caught, so it was indeed a good week.

 

We then moved from Rainbow Camp to Wolseley Lodge, just down the road. Shortly after settling in, I met the guys in the cabin next to us and found out one of them had been a member of OFC a while back ... he went by the board name Chugger. Had some good chats with those guys off and on. They had been at Wolseley for a few days already and had not seen any fish "with teeth". It was a tough go for them as well.

 

The week started out very slow, targeting musky around the weeds, points, and shoals. I think I did manage a small pike or two. Then, a couple more OFC'rs came into camp and got to spend some time chatting with them. They were Blues and Tom Foolery. They had raised a couple musky, but no takers. Finally, Tuesday evening, they were able to land a 38" ski. Just before they left, we were comparing their maps with the maps I had created from MAP CREATE and loaded into my new LCX 28C HD unit. During the conversation, they showed me a couple places where they had raised a couple musky ... one place I already knew about and hit frequently, and another was a new/large shoal with nice weed-beds. Following their advice, I took off later on that day (after they had left camp) and sure enough, I too raised a couple fish. Like the one from the week before, none of them were hot fish, and never returned during figure-8. One of these went after a top-raider, made a huge commotion, but completely missed the lure. My first ever musky attack on a top-water ... what a rush that was. After a few words about a blind fish .. back to fisting we go. Few throw-backs with a different lure, but never saw her again.

 

The weather was warm, sunny, and very few clouds. This was the consistent pattern for both weeks, and had been that way for quite a while. I also noticed that many of the cabbage beds around were starting to die off, and didn't seem to hold any biters ... not even the hammer-handles. The last day we were there, I thought we had ideal conditions, The full moon was just a couple days past and a cold-front moving in. We're up an out before dawn to one of the spots where we raised a musky. Sure enough, she follows my glide bait into the boat, but just lazily swims on by ... never to be seen again. We made a couple passes over the area mixing things up with different presentations and different baits, but to no avail. Not too long after, the rains came and seems like everything just shut down.

 

We didn't feel too bad, as everyone in the camps we had talked to were saying the same thing .... not much action. Since I am bringing my wife to Lakair for our get-together up next year, we took a run up to visit Kevin and Leslie and to show Patsy the cabin we will be staying in ... cabin 5. Kevin and Leslie said the same thing was happening up there as far as the fishing goes. Kevin had some luck the night before with a couple nice pike using Suick's along the shore line. We tried that too ... and I did manage 1 small pike. (KEVIN - If you read this .... thanks for the tip !!!!)

 

Overall, we did have a great time being away. The French River area is beautiful and my father had a great time with taking pictures. We may have only caught 8 or 9 fish the entire two weeks, with the largest being a 25 1/2 in Northern. I knew Bigcreekdad was staying at Crane's Lockhaven Lodge for a couple days while I was at Wolseley. I took a couple trips down around hoping to say hi ... but it was not to be. Sorry I missed the opportunity to meet another OFC'r.

 

Wish I had more pics to share with you all, but I have put up a couple. Sorry for the long written report, but I had an opportunity to share something with you all, so I wanted to take advange of it.

 

Patsy landed a nice bass.

 

Only picture of me and my little hammer-handle.

 

This is why I love the French River area.

 

The end of another day. Beautiful sunsets

 

Looking forward to hitting the French a couple times next year.

[bassmaster4]

nice pics

[Whopper]

Great report Rich!

 

Sometimes in not all about the catching!

 

Thanks!

 

Whopper

[lew]

The time with my dad was worth far more than any fish we may have caught, so it was indeed a good week.

 

That says it all right there Rich, that's what it's all about !!

 

Really good to hear you guys enjoyed your trip up here so much, infact I was just saying to Pete yesterday that I was wondering how you made out. Sorry to hear the fish'n wasn't as good as other years, but there isn't a whole bunch you can do about that.

 

Lookin forward to seeing you again at Lakair next year, plus meeting your Mrs and the pooches too.

 

BTW, I've had the pleasure of meeting up with Blues & Tom Foolery a few times myself and their indeed a couple nice guys.....good of them to share some tips with you.

[fatherof3]

nice report

[Greencoachdog]

Ok Rich, this is what ya gotta do! The next time you head out for Hoserland, stop by and pick me up on the way. I've got a butt-load of Sabiki Rigs for the Wall-ices ( and I aint skeered to use them). I have also found what I think will be the MOAL (Mother of all Lures) of Mucksie/Pike baits!!!

 

If you're not goin' back up 'til Lakair '08, I'll see you then!

[Joey]

Great report Rich. Too bad about the tail lights and the extra expense, but its better to be safe than sorry, and you made the right call.

 

As for the fish, I think follows can be just as exciting. I know its not catching them, but hey you get to see them in their natural habitat and see their beauty all the same.

 

Joey

[Rich Clemens]

You're right Joey .. no way I was going to drive at night (let alone in the rain), with no trailer lights. That's an accident just waiting to happen. I was fortunate that the rain passed over-night and waited until after sunrise to leave the motel. Just ain't worth the risk to us or others on the road. Quick/Cheap fix.

[Chugger]

T'was great meeting you Rich! Sorry to hear your luck didn't get any better than ours did.

Cheers,

-Graeme

[Tom McCutcheon]

Hi Rich. It also was nice to meet you and Pattsie. I'm sorry your luck was no better than mine, even after we showed you where the fish live. LOL!!

I couldn't hook into a muskie all week, but Mike managed to get one on Saturday on the Pickeral River 48X19. It was his personal best and good enough to win the Swan Trophy for the MCI Pig Out.

All in all it was a great week. I don't mind being the net man.

 

Glad you had a good time with your dad, like Lew said they don't happen as often as they should and the memories will be with you forever.

 

Tom.

[Rich Clemens]

Hey Tom ... my congrats to Mike on his win. I'll bet I raised the same ones you did. I thought Friday morning had some ideal conditions ... but was not to be. Already booked for Wolseley next September and we'll give it a another whirl. With the new unit in the boat, I can keep exploring new areas. Sure was great meeting you guys as well. I'd love to be the net man for my wife's first ... someday it will happen. Maybe Lakair GTG 2008 ... could be ?

 

Part of this trip was some experimentation. A few folks were raising fish on top water, which I really don't use all that often. When I did, it was typically in the early morning / late evening on shallow weed-beds. Here, we had a combo of structure (rocks-weeds-near deep water) and sometime more of a chop on the water. Yup - had one strike. In addition, I have a couple glide baits, but never really used them that much. I also tried those in these same spots - caught one pike and raised a ski. Still working on the right lure / structure / presentation combination. Need to build a little more confidence in baits other than spinners/bucktails. Just listening to what some of you other friends were doing, helped me learn a little more. I am thankful for that.

Edited October 3, 2007 by Rich Clemens