French River Muskie Opener.

[BillM]

Well, I wish I had a report like some of the other guys that hit the water this weekend looking for ski's but I don't. Had somewhat of a game plan Sat morning, but without any hydro maps for the French River it makes it a bit difficult. Made our way up the main channel past crooked rapids and fished our way back. Weed growth was almost non existent as the high water levels and crap weather made it extremely difficult for any greenery to sprout up. Hit some shallow water bays and a few nice holding pens along the way back and nada... I started off my oldman with a #5 Mepps Musky killer and myself a bullfrog pattern TopRaider. Put in a good 12hrs the first day, 14hrs the next and another 14hr day yesterday. No hits, no follows, no nothing A wee bit disappointed, but seeing that the French is known for big fish, and they are few and far between, I had a feeling this might happen. I'd like to hit the Kawartha's this weekend to atleast tie into some smaller fish (Perhaps Balsam?)..

 

I don't know if this counts as a christening, but I had a 4lb+ smallmouth nail my Topraider the first day. I couldn't stop myself from laughing, the poor thing had the entire front treble hook in it's mouth. I did get it unhooked without any blood or damage to the gills and back into the drink. We were hooking into way to many OOS bass while fishing for pike, so I pinched all the barbs on the lures we used for pike fishing to lesson the damage we did to them. Caught a few nice pike in the 30inch range, nothing spectacular. Black flies were out in force along with the mosquito's.. Without a bug net, you'd get carried away...

 

Nice to see some of the other opener reports, looks like some of you guys did great!

 

Anyone heading out this weekend for another go around and needs a partner, let me know

 

(pics to follow)

Edited June 10, 2008 by BillM

[lew]

Sounds like a fun weekend Bill, even without a musky.

 

You've got a long season ahead of yerself to find their hiding spots

[Victor]

Days out on the water is still better than the office or just sitting at home doing nothing. At least you caught some fish! I have gone out every single weekend trying to catch the carp and have not caught a fish for almost a month now. Keep at it, you'll get'em!

[Pigeontroller]

I was on the same system. Don't be discouraged, it was abit early with water temps prior to this weekend. I had the biggest Muskie I've ever seen follow in my Topraider!

[BillM]

Weekend was great, my dad and I absolutely love it up there. We'll be back up ThanksGiving weekend for another go around. I got some great sunset shots, I'll post them up a bit later (I need a nap )

[jwl]

hey ya got out there and tried and sounds like ya had some fun, that's the main thing...don't worry to much about not having topo maps and such...most of us been fishing long before there was such things so readily available, or even fish finders and such for that matter..keep at er you will get payed off one day..watch as some of the reporst roll in throughout the season, even the most seasoned musky guys don't get em every outing...that's half the intregue of fishiong these giants...alot of people never get one in a lifetime, so don't kick yourlsef too bad about it..hope ya have a blast in the quest this season.

[Reef Runner]

The French is a beautiful place and even with no ski's, sounds like you took to it HARD. I have trouble finding ski's on the French myself. No worries, plenty of time as Lew said. Better luck next time.

 

reefrunner

[Musky or Specks]

Skis are hard to find on the French even when you know the spots. The very first time I went I hired a guide for the first two days and we managed to raise only two fish. But both fish were giants. The West Arm seems to be a little easier to read IMO.

[JayZ]

topographical maps are not available for that area of the french river, trust me i've looked. just so you know, topographical maps are not available for any waters that are not navigable by ship.

[Raf]

<-- french river muskie

 

topo maps are indeed available, it's the hydrographic maps that don't exist for that area.

 

topo = land

hydro = water

 

minor pet peeve of mine.

Edited June 10, 2008 by Raf

[douG]

Go get 'em Raf.

[Reef Runner]

topo maps are indeed available, it's the hydrographic maps that don't exist for that area.

 

topo = land

hydro = water

 

minor pet peeve of mine.

 

 

I was at an tackle store this weekend talking with the clerk about GPS mapping units this weekend and I am convinced he did nnot know the difference between the two. Suffice to say, he didn't make the sale.

Edited June 10, 2008 by reefrunner

[BillM]

To add, the Eagle Intellimap 500C Chartplotter we have did have a section of the French on it, till about half way up the Main channel, then we all of a sudden were floating around on land

 

No depths at all, just a basic outline of the river (which wasn't very helpful, lol)

[JayZ]

sorry, meant hydrographical maps....

[Sinker]

Anyone heading out this weekend for another go around and needs a partner, let me know

 

(pics to follow)

 

 

Thanks for the report. Too bad you didn't hook up, but from what I hear about the French, its tough. If you do get one, its a hog. Can't beat the scenery though!!

 

If your interested in fishing the kawartha's for ski's sometime, shoot me a pm. I'm on the water every weekend no matter what.

 

Sinker

[BillM]

Sinker, I appreciate the offer I will definitely be taking you up on it

[muskymike]

You had a great time and thats the bottom line Bill. I was out on Pigeon on Saturday and saw a lot of waves and wind. Thats it. I cleaned a lot of lures and got too much sun. No weeds out there that I saw. Very patchy, very scattered. The temps were avg about 65-67 on the main body. I am heading up for a week with the lady friend first week of July so hopefully I will have some luck.

 

I will give you a shout next time I am going to head up for the day and maybe we could meet up there.