French River Report

[Rich Clemens]

Well, our annual two-week trip to the French River has come and gone yet once again. This year, rather than spending one week at Rainbow Camp and Trailer Park and a second week at Wolseley Lodge, we decided on just spending the entire two week period at Rainbow Camp on the North Channel. Over the past several years, I have done well there, landing a couple nice sized muskies each time. Unfortunately, of all the years spent at Wolseley Lodge, I have never landed a musky there. Oh don't get me wrong, there are truely big girls there and you don't have to go far from the dock to get them. This is quite obvious from other's reports. For some reason, I just have no luck there, even fishing the same structure as I do at Rainbow - and I've seen a number of nice fish too. Anyway, that's a whole other story for another time.

 

We arrived on Friday afternoon late in the afternoon. Getting the boat launched, fishing gear ready, and unpacking, made for a long day after an 11 1/2 hour drive that had us getting up at 3:00am that morning. We went out a bit that evening, close to camp, but no action.

 

Saturday morning, I headed out to a spot I know that should hold a nice musky. Sure enough, one was home. She followed me in and took a swipe at mny DC-10, but did not get the hooks. Off she went, we fished the area for a while and eventually circled back around to where I saw her - but she was not to be seen again. Later that evening, we were fishing a weed-bed and landed a nice 43". All the fishing I do here is basically weed-beds with some nice cabbage. Very similar to what we fish up at Lakair.

 

After a cold front went through Saturday evening, Sunday basically shut down. I went back to the spot where I raised the fish on Saturday, but didn't see a thing. On Monday, we took a run up the channel to another large bay where I had seen a few muskies in years past. The water levels were down a bit and most of the bay was just socked in with weeds. We fished there a while trying to burn the bucktails over the tops, but had no action. Kinda of a shame as I had hoped the weeds would be a little more sparse and a little easier fishing, but was not to be this year. I even rigged up a rig for Patsy to jump into the slop and maybe it a few bass, but that was not to be either.

 

Monday of the first week saw us back at the same spot where I had the follow on Saturday. We knew she was in there and we kept coming back at different times of the day. This time, I cast to the outside of the weed line and there she is. Big commotion and blow up at the surface, but she failed to hit the bait. Kept casting back to the area and surrounding area, but did not see her again. I also had Patsy throw around as well, as she was using a different type of bait - but still no fish. Sure looked like she was a hungry girl so we just moved on and finished fishing around that small bay. Before leaving, we circled back around to give her one more shot. This time WHAM - she hit and I had her on. Got her landed and she came in around 45 1/2".

 

Later that same evening, back in a bay near camp, I hit into my third musky and this one came in at 43". Just like the others, she was hanging put in the cabbage beds. Sweet. Only been in camp several days and already have three in the boat. We figured this would end up being a very good trip for us and LOTS OF MUSKIES. Well .... not so fast there.

 

Tuesday, we're back again in one of the bays near camp fishing the cabbage again. This was the same general area where I boated the 43" back on Saturday. I'm reeling in and here she comes - following right up to the boat. I head into the figure-8 and she is following in around, but not very aggressively. Then WHAM, she hits. I feel the weight and set the hook. That fish literally came clear up and completely out of the water when I did the hook set. She twisted and turned and splashed back down .... Unfortunately, when she hit the water, she and the hook parted ways and off she went. CRAP (No triple CRAP).

 

Big Thunderstorms rolled through that first Tuesday night and just poured down rain. Went down to the boat in the morning and could not believe the amount of water I had in there. Almost looked like some idiot forgot to put the plug in again. PAUL/JOEY - NO COMMENTS ARE NECESSARY (HA HA HA). Even the compartment on the bottom of the boat was full of water. Unfortunately, I don't have an automatic bilge pump - maybe someday I should invest in one.

 

 

Saturday the 14th. Been a few days since my last action and we were fishing a weed bed a little ways down the river from camp. Coming around a point holding reeds, there was a lady sitting on the dock reading a book and exchanged pleasantries with us. We kept fishing and we were basically right in front of her when I had a big hit. Setting the hook and FISH ON. This seemed to get the attention of the locals as we were getting a nice crowd on the shore line as the cabin next door had about a half-dozen people standing there watching to see what I had on. After a little battle, we were able to get her in the net. She had the one set of trebbles in her mouth and was hooked on both the top and the bottom. Tried briefly to remove with the pliers, but this was not working. Pull out the cutters and start snipping away. Finially anble to lift her out and we got an ovation from the shore line when I lefted her up. I heard one of the girls on the shore line say something like " .. AND WE SWIM IN THERE ???". Too Funny. We took a quick measurement and placed her back in the water. This one, took quite a while to revive to where she swam off - probably at least 20 minutes and maybe closer to 30. I was really wondering if she would make it. I would feel her tail kick, left her go and she would move off a little and then turn over. Each time, I would grab her tail and get her moving again. Finally, she did swim off and down to the depths. We hung around a while just to be sure she did not come back to the surface, but we never saw her again. We are taking this as a good sign that she was gonna be OK. At least we really hoped so. The measurement came in at 46".

 

And that ... is the end of the story. From the 14th through the rest of that week, we did not see another fish. We started off doing well, then everything seemed to just shut down. Others in camp were not catching much either and they basically said the same thing. Anyway, 4 fish, and we were very happy with that. All were released and swam away to fight another day. We have already booked another two-week trip there at Rainbow for September 2014.

 

And to Art, my good friend, thank you again for the trolling baits you gave me this past July. Patsy and I used them quite often during our trip. Unfortunately, we were not able to catch anything. However, they remain in the boat and will have them for next year. Thanks again.

 

Here are a few pics that we took from the trip. Hope you enjoy.

 

Ran across this red-neck pontoon boat:

 

Storm clouds moving in one evening.

 

We had a few nights down around the freezing mark, which made for some very foggy mornings.

I thought this first one was pretty cool with the sun hitting the tops of the trees in the midst of the fog.

 

There is a river out there under all that fog.

 

Our cabin. Sitting high up on the rocks. We have a fantastic view up there and plenty of room for the dogs to run around and explore. Although it is a trip up and down the hill to the docks.

 

My "LOOK OUT" on duty. Shwe did quite well the first week, but really slacked off for the second.

 

Oh yeah .... here are some of the musky shots. May as well put them in here too.

Four fish total. 42, 43, 45.5 and 46

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2013 by Rich Clemens

[kickingfrog]

Nice Rich. I think you fish up here more then a lot of us Canucks do.

[misfish]

Ran across this red-neck pontoon boat:

 

 

I,ll bet they made you feel right at home.LOL

 

Great report,nice fish.

[Terry]

sounds like a good time

[Squid]

Rich my man you have done so well since I met you the first time at the Lakair G2G!! Way to go on the awesome fishing!!

[mattyk]

Some nice fish Rich!

[bigcreekdad]

Rich

 

Nice report....thanks.

 

I was above you from the 13th thru the 19th at Cranes. I echo your experience for that period. I saw three muskie....one was maybe the largest I've seen in the water, but none of the three was aggressive. Even more troubling, I only caught seven pike....usually catch several each day casting for muskie.

 

Very frustrating, but the weather seemed to change daily.

 

Oh well....if it was easy, etc etc.

Edited September 22, 2013 by bigcreekdad

[Bernie]

Well done Rich.
I was watchin ya from this end of the lake

[skdds]

Very Nice! Maybe I ought to try fall next time..

[lew]

Thanks for the tale Rich and good to hear you guys had a nice trip and put a few fish in the boat.

 

I was really hoping this would be your year for the 50 as your working hard towards it, but the fish'n gods don't always co-operate.

 

As for the auto bailer on your boat...definetely.

Edited September 22, 2013 by lew

[Handlebarz]

very nice trip there and also nice skis congrats thanks for sharing with us

[limeyangler]

Great morning read Rich....thanks!

 

You musky boys(and gals) are a different breed....lol.....guess i need to be catching more than fishing.

 

Those fish are really thick/solid....must be fed well.

Edited September 22, 2013 by limeyangler

[Rich Clemens]

Rich my man you have done so well since I met you the first time at the Lakair G2G!! Way to go on the awesome fishing!!

Well, that must mean that OFC has a lot of good teachers .... And I would agree with that.

[Rich Clemens]

 

 

I,ll bet they made you feel right at home.LOL

 

Great report,nice fish.

Nope. I'm about 35 miles too far north of red-neck country. (Ha ha ha)

Actually, we saw a couple different ones while we were there.

Hey, why not have a multi-purpose dock.

[Rizzo]

Great read and some beauty fish! Thanks for the report

[Musky or Specks]

Some nice ski's there. Gotta love the audience while your landing one.

[aplumma]

Looks like a really nice trip Rich glad you had some ladies take the bait. I am sure the lures I gave you will produce for you leaving them in my hands would have been a crime. lol

 

 

Art

[Moosebunk]

Great run down Rich. The four fish you did get certainly were good lookers, and some nice size to 'em too.

 

We had one stubborn pike up north recently that was HUGE but smart. Your experience of returning time and again to chase that one fish reminded me of the same.

 

Two weeks fishing muskie for you and Pat must have been great.

 

Thanks for reporting.

[Skud]

Beauty fish. Nice pics. Thanks for posting

[chris.brock]

nice skis, and a well written report

 

I think I know that redneck pontoon boat, they go from the mainland to 18 mile island, just west of Ash Bay?

[Rich Clemens]

nice skis, and a well written report

 

I think I know that redneck pontoon boat, they go from the mainland to 18 mile island, just west of Ash Bay?

 

 

This one was in the bay right across from Rainbow Camp. Thought I saw it, or one like it, in the channel to Dough Bay.

[bandito]

 

 

This one was in the bay right across from Rainbow Camp. Thought I saw it, or one like it, in the channel to Dough Bay.

I thought I saw that guy as far as Dokis. If it was him, he was a pleasant fellow. Watched them fight a large ski then they lost it pontoon side. Apparently Mr. ski grabbed hold of his smallmouth and was too stubbornned to let go.