mover Posted February 9, 2010 Report Posted February 9, 2010 anyone heard of this fishing camp. planning ahead for late summer early fall fishing trip to this area . targeting walleye , bass. one advantage to this camp is that it is situated on georgian bay connecting to french river . is this a good fishing location ? any info on this camp 's facilities would be appreciated . thanks ps coming down the french river to get to this camp looks impossible without a guide because of the rapids in this region ......
solopaddler Posted February 9, 2010 Report Posted February 9, 2010 anyone heard of this fishing camp. planning ahead for late summer early fall fishing trip to this area . targeting walleye , bass. one advantage to this camp is that it is situated on georgian bay connecting to french river . is this a good fishing location ? any info on this camp 's facilities would be appreciated . thanks ps coming down the french river to get to this camp looks impossible without a guide because of the rapids in this region ...... Have never stayed at the camp but have heard good things about it. I am very familiar with the area. Having a smaller boat we always launched at Hartley bay and accessed the Bad/French/Pickeral river delta area via the Bad river. We went this route as at least as far as I'm concerned it's much safer than heading down the Key River and across the open waters of Georgian Bay. (At least in a small boat). It's a fantastic fishery with tophy fish of all species. If you're after larger walleye that time of year we always did well with 2 basic techniques. During the day we'd fish likely spots with a small slip sinker (Lindy), a long light 4lb test tippet, single hook and an air injected crawler. We regularly put a beating on fish up there using this very simple technique. Second technique was trolling large floating rapalas at night in likely areas (neckdowns, current areas). Troll super slow and doctor the eye of the rap by bending it down a bit. This gives the lure a much more erratic side to side wobble that is deadly when trolled slowly. We never really targeted bass up there, pretty much just walleye and musky. Bass are everywhere though and easy to catch. The Bustard islands were known as a top producer.
Cast-Away Posted February 10, 2010 Report Posted February 10, 2010 I found their website on Google but the pictures are all from 2007. I'm not sure if they are still in business. I do remember that if you book with them , they pick you up at the Key River Marina, or if you bring your own boat, you launch from there as it is really tricky to shoot the rapids from the French down.
Headhunter Posted February 10, 2010 Report Posted February 10, 2010 (edited) My wife and I stayed there for a week about 10 years ago... -Yes, they pick you up at the Key River Marina and run you out to the island...they charge you for this btw - if you have your own boat, you can get there and via the Key River... I would suggest getting the nautical charts if you are going to do this... there are two routes out... one takes you right out to the open water of G-Bay, which can be dicey if there is any wind at all... the other route takes you through the island chain and is clearly marked, but again can be a bit dicey if you are not familiar with the area. The camp is located on some small islands and is powered by an generator to provide the guests power.. generator runs from 7:00am to 11:00pm if I recall correctly. The owner was friendly, the camp "helper" was annoying... They rent boats, flat bottom steel boats that will handle the local waters but I wouldn't venture far out in the open water of G-Bay in them... They offer satelite phone for their guests... the cottages are ok for fisherman, but I would suggest that you ask for one of the newer cottages as the legacy cottages are small and all tucked together pretty close. The entire network of cottages are connected by walk ways and decking as the island is not really flat enough to walk on... For me, fishing was a little tough... we were there in late August and you had to work to find fish. Never made it to the Bustards, could see them, but too much big water for my little rental boat... Lots of places to fish and the area is covered with scattered islands... With regard to the French River mouth... it's nothing more than a small stream and waterfall, barely accessible by boat... most fish that we caught and heard of being caught were found in bays that had easy access to big deep water. I did well pitchin cranks... Pm me if you need any more info... HH *****EDIT*** - I just remembered that we actually didn't launch out of Key River... that is their normal pick up site, but because of low water levels, we actually we met and picked up in Britt, on Byng Inlet... soory for that... they say the first thing to go in your memory.... what was I talking about again!?.... Edited February 10, 2010 by Headhunter
mover Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Posted February 11, 2010 thanks to all those helpful people that responded to my post for georgian bay fishing camp . if anyone has stayed there recently or can recommend this camp to a group of walleye fishermen that are seeking suitable accommodation would appreciate hearing from any interested members out there . thanks again
nofish4me Posted February 13, 2010 Report Posted February 13, 2010 I have stayed there and over time, have had dealings with them. If it's a fishing group, no problem, just remember that it's not downtown Anywhere. I could ramble on, but hate pecking away on keyboard. Due to water levels and boat traffic, Dave was picking up in Britt. HeadHunter has posted good info.
mover Posted February 13, 2010 Author Report Posted February 13, 2010 thank you for your reply i would appreciate your honesty in determining whether to book at this camp we are a fishing group last year we stayed at a fishing camp near hartley bay . we were there in early sept. we were targeting walleye , bass we thought our target area would be the surrounding camp waters. the area is huge for ist timer's hired a guide thru the camp . guide was great except one striking feature of our excursion was that we were taken to georgian bay using the western channel. without a guide we would have never cleared the multitude of rapids . we were told that our prospects for walleye were better in georgian bay where it meets the french . we fish near an abandon lodge . did really good . trip was a life time experience. 45 min trip 50 hp merc on our own fishing camp waters we did resonably well with walleye & bass after this trip our group figured if we're for walleye & we have to end up in georgian bay when staying at a camp on the french why not move the operation to where the prime fishing could be.... this hopefully why we're checking out georgian bay fishing camp we're told june/july are the best months for walleye what about sept /early oct at this camp targeting walleye . what's your opinion? lastly , in , confidence, our group is looking for clean , well run camp, housekeeping ( we prepare our own meals) for a fishing trip . can this camp offer these amenities. your frank opinion would be kept in confidence . we are older guys not looking to stir up a problem with anyone
nofish4me Posted February 14, 2010 Report Posted February 14, 2010 Mover, send me a PM with your phone # and I'll give you a call.
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