Pickeral or French River

[B Diddy]

Hey gang....was thinking of going out on the may long weekend to either the French or Pickeral river for some camping & fishing. We have a canoe or aluminum with 9.9 to use. Would we be able to use a boat & motor in either of these rivers. What's the fishing like? Which one is better & does anyone have any specific areas they prefer to fish. Not looking for secret hotspots unless of course you are willing to part....lol. Just a general area that may be better than others. I assume there are lots of camping spots. I have very little info on this area so any help will be great

 

Thanks,

Bill

[richyb]

Hey .. i have never fished either but i have a few friends that fish the french and they always do pretty well .. I havent heard anything about the pickeral tho ... There was a post on here a while ago about the french and people were sharing info about fishing areas ..

[solopaddler]

I'd recommend launching at Hartley Bay Marina on the French downstream from hwy 69.

Motor down to Ox Bay which is the confluence of the Pickeral and French Rivers.

Great central area to camp and fish.

Ox bay itself is like a lake with no discernable current, but if you travel upstream or downstream on the French there's lots of great current areas that should have plenty of walleye at that time of year.

[johnnyb]

My vote would also be the French...what Solo said. Another decent area is at the bottom of 5 mile rapids...you would launch from Dry Pine bay, go through Lost Child Bend, and be on your way to the rapids. Even Dry Pine bay itself has some decent fishing...I believe the launch is at Loon Lodge....pm me if you would like more specific details...I will look it up.

[B Diddy]

Thanks for the imput. I'll do a search for the previous thread on the French river.

 

Johnnyb....pm sent

[BillM]

I'll be hitting the French for the early muskie opener, lets hope all this $$$$ I've spent on a muskie setup gets a workout

[Cast-Away]

Hey Bill, you can't access the French from Hwy 69, only the Pickeral as Solo said. My buddies and I use to go there every year until 1988 and switched to the Moon River because of the drive and the lack of fish. You lose a full day between the drive and and back again when you go that far so you really need to go for 3 or 4 days.

 

I personally prefer going to the Moon so that more time can be spent on fishing rather than the travel. You have to remember that it takes a few years of going to the same place in order to learn where all of the good spots are. So may people what the quick trip where the fishing is great the first time and that never happens. Rarely do I read about people who go to a place for the first time and post great results.

[Musky or Specks]

Ive only ever gone to the Pic and thats for MCI Hamilton chapters Pig Out. You can access the French pretty easy from the Pickeral. Theres a lot of water to fish so be prepared to spend some time searching.

[B Diddy]

What about the point au baril area. Is there good fishing & camping there? We're doing thursday to sunday.