French River Canoe Trip Report, some fishing, 65 km in less than 2 days

[chris.brock]

We managed almost 70 km because we cheated, we had a motor!

 

Here's our method of travel

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen all sections of the French, The lower section down from Hartley Bay is one of my favorite areas.

 

 

We took the Bad River channel down to the Lily Chutes to camp for our first night.

 

 

Geologically it's a pretty unique spot, lots of chutes and channels flowing into Cross Channel

 

The walleye weren't cooperating, but the channel cats were

 

 

Colin with a little Cross Channel channel cat

 

 

 

Colin and Tori enjoying a leisurely breakfast

 

 

planning the days route

 

 

my favorite part of the trip was working our way through the Finger Boards, a maze of little islands and rocks,

 

 

we didn't use the motor for this section

 

 

Colin looking for a bite in the evening

 

 

great weather, a late afternoon swim to refresh

 

 

all done, Hartley Bay marina can get pretty busy on a Saturday morning

 

 

the motor helped us cover miles, it was nice to have when we were tired of paddling, but the quiet sounds of the dipping of the paddles was nice too

[Muskieman]

Great stuff !

[Jds63]

beautiful area to paddle and fish , thanks for the report

 

did you start and finish at Hartley Bay marina ?

[solopaddler]

One of my favorite pieces of water Chris, I love it down there! The spot where you were catching the cats we've always called it (not surprisingly) the catfish hole. There's tons of them in there.

 

Gonna have to make it a point to get back there....

[capt_hooked]

Been there.. done that...! 120 miles from the West Arm, Nipissing to Georgian Bay in 7 days.....

 

Great trip... see any rattle snakes.?

 

[Rich Clemens]

That would be a trip I'd like to take sometime. LOVE the French River and never been anywhere near down towards the end. Beautiful from the various pics I've seen. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[chris.brock]

beautiful area to paddle and fish , thanks for the report

 

did you start and finish at Hartley Bay marina ?

 

yep, started and finished at Hartley Bay Marina

 

One of my favorite pieces of water Chris, I love it down there! The spot where you were catching the cats we've always called it (not surprisingly) the catfish hole. There's tons of them in there.

 

Gonna have to make it a point to get back there....

 

yeah, a pretty cool place for 4 hours drive from the GTA,

 

we've caught a few decent walleye, casting crankbaits, after dark in places like the "catfish hole"

 

Been there.. done that...! 120 miles from the West Arm, Nipissing to Georgian Bay in 7 days.....

 

Great trip... see any rattle snakes.?

 

 

I was hoping to, but no, didn't see or hear a rattler, I'm always a bit nervous looking for firewood and picking blue berries down there

 

a lady at Hartley Bay said there's usually a couple of road kill rattlers on Hart. Bay Rd after a weekend of traffic

[dhickey]

That sounds more like a work out.

Glad to see you got some time to fish.

[Joeytier]

What an awesome trip. The fishing is just an afterthought when youre on adventures like that.

[Rod Caster]

how are the blueberry's this year? Probably a bit early, but is it gonna be a bumper crop?

[chris.brock]

how are the blueberry's this year? Probably a bit early, but is it gonna be a bumper crop?

 

yeah, a little early, but plenty to found

[Joey]

Very nice. Looks like a lovely trip!

[mirogak]

Nice report Chris. Nice chair too, where did you get it?

[chris.brock]

Nice report Chris. Nice chair too, where did you get it?

thanks Mirro

 

the chair's from Hiker's Haven, it's pretty old now, I think it was about $30 and weighs about 2.3 lbs, it packs down pretty small too

[wildeye rainbow]

Very nice pics. I haven't been down that stretch of the French - it's a great river.

 

WR