French river area help or hints?

[wuchikubo]

Hey All,

 

Okay, I'm almost certain I'll be going to the French river to do some fishing with a friend. Neither of us are familiar with the area and would like to seek some help from here.

 

Planned date: Tues and Wed Aug 26, 27th.

 

Anyone have info on boat rentals?

 

PM me any other hints if you can spare them, like what lures might work, roughly where to start off, etc, (not looking for someone's personal hot spot).

 

Thanks,

 

Stan

[Rich Clemens]

Where abouts on the French are you looking and what species are you going after ? There's a number of folks on here who fish the French. 3 1/2 weeks I'll be there. One week out of Wolseley Bay and a second one on the North Channel.

[wuchikubo]

Where abouts on the French are you looking and what species are you going after ? There's a number of folks on here who fish the French. 3 1/2 weeks I'll be there. One week out of Wolseley Bay and a second one on the North Channel.

 

Rich,

 

Anything is game for me, I haven't been out fishing since the kid's derby at the beginning of July. Would likely be renting a boat and casting for fish, so walleye, bass, muskie, trout, or other fish worthy of snapping a pic of.

 

Dang, the trip is too early to meet up with you.

 

Stan

[Rich Clemens]

Stan.

 

I primarily target musky, but end up with pike. If you would be targetting the larger species, make sure you are properly equipped to handle one, should you be fortunate to latch into one. Strong rods, heavy line, heavy leaders, landing net, bolt cutters should you need to cut the hooks to speed the release, just to name a few things. I am spooled with 80# power pro on all my rods. Leaders anywhere from 2 to 3 feet in length with a minimum 100#, heavy action rods, big game net, etc.

 

Primariy I look for weed beds and around the small islands, and rocky shoals. A few places I have raised musky have been a combination spot with rocks and weeds. We'll even fish the shorelines if there is some cover nearby. Some of the typical places you'd probably latch into a pike. With pike, you'll need good leaders as well.

 

I use a variety of lures for Musky, including bucktails, in-line spinners. Landed a very nice pike on a Shallow Invader and raised a few muskies with it as well. Started spending more time with a Suick last year based on advise from some fishing buddies. Also started working top-waters a little more last year and will continue this year. I have a couple Top Raiders.

 

Can't help out too much with boat rentals as we bring our own. The camps we have stayed at will rent boats - as will most of the outfitters. But, if your not actually lodging there, expect to put down a significant deposit. I've seen a couple places who want anywhere from $500 to $1,000 deposit for rental boats/motors. If you are planning on renting a boat, I'd select a place first and contact them, in advance, just so you know the terms and conditions of the rental - before you get there.

 

Clamp-it is right on about some areas of the French. Depending on where you go, you don't have to go very far from camp with all the islands, channels, and after a while, everything seems to look the same. If you have a GPS unit, that would be a good idea to bring it along, with extra batteries just in case. The one place I'l lbe this year, on the North Channel, is about a 10 mile stretch with rapids on both ends ... so there's not much chance of getting lost ... even for me.

 

Walleye, Bass, Trout, etc. I've not really fished for on the French.

[Rich Clemens]

Oh yeah. Stop at the French River Trading post and pick up a map of the French River. Pretty nice detail of the land contours, shorelines, roads, trails, and such. Many of the outfitters in the area are also shown.

Edited August 14, 2008 by Rich Clemens

[BillM]

Lots of nice smallmouth in the lower French. Our ticket last fall was topwater, I am sure they'll be packing on weight soon enough and should be on the feed. Any small point usually held a fish, look for the rock/weed transitions and you'll be sure to find them. There are some big pike and huge muskie in there as well. No luck on the muskie, but we did get a pike in the 20lb range last fall along with 50-60 smaller ones in 3 days.

 

The pickerel bite is usually good also, warm harnesses or perhaps slow death might be a good idea (We rarely focus on pickerel)

 

Good luck!

Edited August 14, 2008 by BillM