French River Ontario 2010!
Just back from my annual outing to the lower French River in the northeastern Georgian Bay
area of Ontario. We've been back at the French River Lodge (www.frenchriverlodge.com)
every May since the mid-90's, and 19 times dating back to the mid 80's. Again this year, I
was joined by 5 friends from N. Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana.
What can I say.....simply AWESOME!! Unbelievably, 75 plus every day, no bugs, and our
only rain was about 2 hrs of T-storms Monday (which nicely coincided with our lunch time)
and overnight our last night there. Warm enough to keep the windows open 24/7; and
it sure did make for some nice nights sitting on the porch, having a cold one!
French River really is more like a lake where we fish it, with countless islands, bays, shoals,
etc. And get this...the water level was TEN FEET below last year!! Rocks that we zipped
over last year were now 6 feet out of the water! Quite the eye opener to see rocks where
we hadn't even known they were. Camp owner, Anne, attributed this to very low snowfall
and a very dry spring to date. Levels were at an 80 year low for late May.
But, the good news was that the fishing was still SMOKING! Overall, we got 347 northerns
in 3.5 days of fishing, and released them all. Of those 24 were greater than 22"; with our
biggest this year just over 29" long (about 7-8lbs). We also caught 5 walleye which we usually
don't get (we have those here!); a 23" muskie and over 20 nice bass. Plus all the other hits,
misses and follows typical of northern pike fishing.
This is my brother with a typical French River pike......
This is my friend Kris, with one of our better pike.....
Also took some fish including this nice smallmouth casting 2" ZMAN chattersticks, the
same baits that have been so good for us here on Lake Erie the last couple years.
(Lure is barely visible in the fish's mouth)
We also got to see 2 young moose swimming across a bay, then climb up a rock face. They
move pretty well for being such a big animal.
Normally, our best method is casting red/white spoons, but this year, they wanted oranges
and yellows; and several members of our group had awesome action using topwater baits
like Zara spooks, Jitterbugs and buzzbait.
This has always been a great trip...and this year was no exception. I get to do a lot
of great things every year, but the French River has always been my favorite! Can't
wait to go back!!
**
Hoping to get the boat in the slip this weekend, weather permitting! I hear they got some
walleye this week....I'll keep you posted!
area of Ontario. We've been back at the French River Lodge (www.frenchriverlodge.com)
every May since the mid-90's, and 19 times dating back to the mid 80's. Again this year, I
was joined by 5 friends from N. Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana.
What can I say.....simply AWESOME!! Unbelievably, 75 plus every day, no bugs, and our
only rain was about 2 hrs of T-storms Monday (which nicely coincided with our lunch time)
and overnight our last night there. Warm enough to keep the windows open 24/7; and
it sure did make for some nice nights sitting on the porch, having a cold one!
French River really is more like a lake where we fish it, with countless islands, bays, shoals,
etc. And get this...the water level was TEN FEET below last year!! Rocks that we zipped
over last year were now 6 feet out of the water! Quite the eye opener to see rocks where
we hadn't even known they were. Camp owner, Anne, attributed this to very low snowfall
and a very dry spring to date. Levels were at an 80 year low for late May.
But, the good news was that the fishing was still SMOKING! Overall, we got 347 northerns
in 3.5 days of fishing, and released them all. Of those 24 were greater than 22"; with our
biggest this year just over 29" long (about 7-8lbs). We also caught 5 walleye which we usually
don't get (we have those here!); a 23" muskie and over 20 nice bass. Plus all the other hits,
misses and follows typical of northern pike fishing.
This is my brother with a typical French River pike......
This is my friend Kris, with one of our better pike.....
Also took some fish including this nice smallmouth casting 2" ZMAN chattersticks, the
same baits that have been so good for us here on Lake Erie the last couple years.
(Lure is barely visible in the fish's mouth)
We also got to see 2 young moose swimming across a bay, then climb up a rock face. They
move pretty well for being such a big animal.
Normally, our best method is casting red/white spoons, but this year, they wanted oranges
and yellows; and several members of our group had awesome action using topwater baits
like Zara spooks, Jitterbugs and buzzbait.
This has always been a great trip...and this year was no exception. I get to do a lot
of great things every year, but the French River has always been my favorite! Can't
wait to go back!!
**
Hoping to get the boat in the slip this weekend, weather permitting! I hear they got some
walleye this week....I'll keep you posted!
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