The possible new world record Muskie (65lbs.) was caught in Georgian Bay by the lucky happy fellow above in The Moon River Basin which used to be one of the hottest fishing holes in all of Canada but the last time we visited the area it was full of cabins & people & not really what we wouuld call wilderness as compared to the Key River Area or French River Provincial Park but top Canadian Fishing none the less. The Moon River is famous & has been written about in many outdoor magazines for years & years long before computers came along. It had the best big walleye (yellow pickerel) runs for many years until gill netters wiped them out for $6.00 to $9.00 a pound profits. That is being corrected as I understand so hopefully they will come back again & so will the really big Muskies that love to follow them & eat them. If you want to catch the world record find the yellow pickerel & troll the area over & over. The big Muskie will be following them. An old time muskie fishermen out on The French River told me that years ago.
Big Muskie also love to eat pike in the same manner & ciscoe.
I have no idea whether they like panfish & I have never had a pike or muskie hit a crappie, bass or bluegill while bringing one it in but I have seen them bust pike & yellow pickerel after being hooked by fishermen while they were reeling them in.
For some reason they like to grab them when you get them right next to the boat.
Muskies like to follow lures sometimes but they will not always grab them & sometimes pike do the same.
The Creek Chub Pikie resembles both yellow pickerel & pike & Muskie love this lure in Georgian Bay.
The bigger the better.
Troll it as fast as you can without pulling it out of the water.
A live sucker a foot or more long fished on a big bobber near where the big ones are known to feed would probably be a better bet in the long run for huge pike & muskie if you like that kind of fishing.
Checkout European websites on bait fishing for big pike.
That is their thing over there & you can learn a lot from them.
They have all kinds of special bait rigs not available in Canada or America & you can purchase them on their websites along with books about the subject.
I have heard of Muskies caught in the upper & lower French River & upper Pickerel River that equal this size but have never personally seen one of them except swimming in shallow clear water chasing bait fish which for a Muskie this size can be a 5 to ten pound pike or walleye (yellow pickerel).
Personally I have never caught a muskie like this in The Georgian Bay but I have gone out in The French River area near Dallas Rapids & trolled for them before.
I had a big Rapala bit right in half & only got the front end of the lure back trolling on The French River not far from Dallas Rapids & you should have seen the look on our faces when that happened?
They have powerful jaws that act like wire cutters if you get your lure or leaders into the right part of their jaws.
I have had many wire leaders bitten right in half cleanly over the years & have no idea the size of the fish that did that.
I have also seen big pike cleaned at Key Harbour Lodge that had the 7″ Rapala & 18 inch leaders all the way in their stomach.
That is one reason I prefer solid s.s. wire over cable for leaders.
The couple pictured used to go up & fish out there for big muskies by trolling all day in a big boat with a ten horse power trolling motor.
They always used 60 to 100lb. line & heavy stiff rods just in case.
They used the largest silver flatfish you could buy & also caught a lot of big pickerel & pike in the process of trolling for big muskie.
They used to catch more big fish than anyone up there with their flatfish.
They caught many big muskies over the years & I took this picture of them.
The one they are holding is in the forty pound range.
They told me they hooked a muskie one time that went at least 80 to 100lb.
They hooked it on the bay & it headed up the French River To Dallas Rapids & got down in the rocks under the rapids & got them snagged up & they finally lost it after following it for over an hour.
These people were not the type to exaggerate & were experts with years of experience fishing muskie in this area.
The lodge on the French River used to have pictures of all the big fish they took over the years while staying there in the summer.
If really big muskie is your thing the world record lurks in these waters & is waiting for someone to hook into it.
65 lb. muskies have been taken in the past in the upper & lower French River areas.
I have heard stories about world record size muskies being netted & released by wildlife people out on The French River near Gull Rock.
The best thing to do is get a hold of a fish camp & hire a guide that specializes in muskie fishing to find out where to troll & what to use & all that.
Very few really big muskie are caught in the area the Bass Hole is in.
I have caught nine pound muskies & have never seen any taken there over twenty pounds but I know forty pounders are around occasionally because I have seen them in clear shallow water feeding before.
I have caught hammer handle muskies there fishing for bass so they do spawn in the area.
Generally pike & muskie do not mix well & the area I fish is mostly pike.
If you know what muskie weed looks like you will always find them around it somewhere.
Pike beds look different than muskie beds so a guide would be best if you really want to catch one.
There are good places on the upper French River also if you know where they are.
Some fishermen cast the really big Mepps spinners for them there & get forty pound muskie all the time.
Art Lawton that held the world record bought a cabin on The Upper French River because it was so good & used to guide people there.
Someone caught a 65lb. muskie there a few years back on a Creek Chub Pikie trolling.
Most muskie fishermen troll very fast with big lures & do that for hours on end with lures like the Creek Chub Pikie in muskie sizes.
If you get one or two on your trip you are doing good.
Big Creek Chub Pikies in perch color are also good for big muskies in The French River & Georgian Bay.
Both of these Muskies were caught in Georgian Bay recently & emailed to me by local fishermen that really know where to find them & how to catch them.
Notice the smiles on their faces.
They were released after the photos & will grow bigger.
I can not imagine hooking up with a muskie this big on my fly rod.
One of the muskies above was taken on a three inch long orange Rapala.
Dear Mr. Dice: I was reading your story about musky fishing in the Georgian Bay and French River areas, and I noticed that the photo in your article was taken on the dock of Camp McIntosh, a camp the I used to visit with my father back in the 70′s. I was visiting the camp back in 1976 when they netted a 68 lb. musky just a few hundred yards from the very dock where this photo was taken. I haven’t been back since, but I wondered if the news owners display a picture of that fish for visitors to see? I did see a newspaper photo of the fish (back in the early 80′s) while attending a fishing show in Cleveland. The interesting thing about this fish is that it was released just below the Dallas Rapids that same day. And, while we were fishing this area that evening we witnessed the fish jump completely out of the water in an attempt to catch two fleeing seagulls (that had been sitting on the water). This occurred only about 10 yards from our boat and it was quite a site to see. Others had witnessed similar events earlier in the afternoon so, as you might imagine, there were about 15 boats trolling in a big circle just below the rapids in an attempt to catch this fish. As hungry as the fish may have been (after spending a few days in a trap net without food), she wasn’t going to be fooled by someone’s artifical muskrat lure or giant creekchub bait. Best Regards, Rick
camp mac intosh is still alive and strong! check out their facebook page….btw they have lots of photos on display!
Thanks for the information. I posted their Facebook Page Link on my blog page which will be updated in the near future.
I know it may be hard for people to believe but I also heard that story about wildlife officers netting world record muskie to get their eggs & then releasing them back into the French River.68 pounds would be the world record now that Art Lawton’s record of 74 pounds was found to be false based on the measurements of the fish.They now say that muskie only weighed 54 pounds & not 74 pounds.Always measure the length, width & girth before releasing a possible record fish as that will tell wildlife people exactly what the weight was supposed to be based on scientific evidence.They sat this method will be accurate to a few ounces not to exceed one to three pounds on the average. A 53 pound two oz. pike was 56 inches long.
I heard of one muskie netted near Gull Rock which is out where The French runs into Georgian Bay. They estimated it’s weight at 80 pounds & the wildlife officer that netted it told me that.He said they took it’s eggs for their hatchery & released it alive. He said it was well over five foot long so he knew the story the two muskie fishermen told me were true.He confirmed the world record lurks in this area & that was 30 years ago or more.
mr. dice try to explain to me where gull rock is i think it is around the mouth of the french river at the bay thanks jim
It is at the mouth of The French River in the bay on the right side when you face the river coming into the bay. The wildlife guys used to net huge musky right off of Gull Rock including one that was suppose to be over world record size. Now I am talking 35 years ago so I have no idea what it is like now. The large silver flatfish seemed to be the lure muskie fishermen favored back them along with stiff rods & heavy braid line & terminal tackle. They would troll for hours & hours for muskie out there & would also take big pike & yellow pickerel in the process.
I was doing some research on the French River area and came across this post.
My family actually owned Camp McIntosh on the French river for 2 generations. It is an absolutely beautiful area and the fishing was just as amazing
I haven’t been up there for around 15 years now, however I have a Kayaking trip planned up there for next year. I plan to get ALOT of fishing in while I’m there. Maybe even haul in a Muskie
Actually I’d settle for a few nice Walleye and maybe a Northern Pike 
can someone please tell us exactly what/where on the navigation chart what “Gull Rock” is at the mouth of the French??? Thanks
In response to Phil Thompson’s posting on August 19th, I’m wondering if Randy Thompson is your father? If so, he should have the photo of the 68lb. muskie that I mentioned above. This was the last time that I visited Camp McIntosh – back when Bruce and Nora were running it. They were good friends with a guy named Doug Smoot, who was one of the guys we used to go fishing with. I have been itching to go back there because I never forgot where the muskie holding spots were. The 68lb. fish that I witnessed back in 1976 was also witnessed by Randy and others. Anyway, if you read this let me know. Best Regards, Rick
Knew Bruce, Nora, Randy Gwen and Phil.
Also fished with Doug Smoot and many others.
Went to GBFC when McIntosh sold.
Jim
Jim: Are you from the N.E. Ohio area and do you still go up to the Georgian Bay area to fish? Did the fishing around Camp McIntosh fall off over the years or did you just find the GBFC to be a more enjoyable place to go to? Also, did you know a guy named “Red” who used to go to Canada with Doug Smoot? I was fishing with him the evening when a giant muskie jumped out of the water attempting to grab two seagulls that had been sitting on the water (just below the Dalles Rapids). Quite a site to see. Thanks for the follow up. Best Regards, Rick
I was there when the Muskie was netted, too.
Caught many Walleye over 10 pounds at Dallas Rapids.
My sone, Sean, caught a 50 inch, 30 lb PIKE in the Bay…near the mouth to the French.
Yes, Rick,I knew Red…Red BECK well…many good memories of fishing with Doug, Red, Don Schaum and all my fishing friends.
very difficult to read seems like it was written by a 10 year old
Very ignorant post! Why did you even bother write such a rude comment?
I notice that BOTH prior posts were from “Anonymous”.
Man up, or dont bother to post this useless trash.
This site is for those of us that know about and want to
discuss fishing on Georgian Bay.
Jim: I’m not sure why some of these responses make connection while others never seem to make it to the intended person. Then again, I’m not one to use social media very much, so maybe I’m messing-up on the send option. Anyway, I’ll send this one to you as a test. Let me know if you receive it. Also, wanted to mention that I caught three nice muskie on the GR this year. Also spotted one muskie on Saturday that went over 50 inches. Nearly kicked it in the side as I waded across the river. This Friday I’m going to fish the Detroit River. Last time we fished this river we caught four muskie. If you ever have an opportunity to fish this river, I think you would enjoy it.
kind regards,
Rick
Hello Jim! It’s Rick. I wrote a response to the first posting because I thought the person who wrote it made a very unnecessary comment. Didn’t mean to create a stir. Hope you are doing well. Also, I never did hear back from you regarding Red. Is he still living? Let me know.
kind regards,
Rick
Received, Rick
note the prior posts as to my response to you re: Red, and the gang.
What is GR?? Georgain Bay??
happy to talk fishing: jimmunnis@yahoo.com
JJM
I’m an old fly fisherman and will be at Kamp Kaintuck on the French near the mouth of the Wanapitea in August. Very interested in catching a musky on the fly. You mentioned musky beds look different than pike beds. Different how?
The Muskie weed is different in it is thicker than the pike beds & has leafy like strings in it. The pike beds are different. They call it muskie weed. Hard to describe the difference without being there to show you.
Fish off of Gull Rock with your flies in the early morning or evening as the big muskies swim into this area to feed in the shallows about then.
Gull Rock is at the mouth of the French on the bay.
The wildlife people used to net huge muskie there to get their eggs including one that was over the world record in size.
I have fished musky in the north channel since 1988 lived for 8 years in whitefish falls ont and had a cottage between nippissing and north channel caught some 30 plus inland but one day in may 1994 after ice out fishing bay of islands for perch it was 80 degrees no wind you could see 20 feet down the boat wad stopped 70 feet of water jogging for perch or something I was standing watching my rid tip vertical I could not believe my eyes about 6 ft uber the boat a fish first I thought sturgeon at least 84 inches swam under the boat no fear it moved with out any efort
The pike like the millfoil type weeds, its like tiny ringed shelves, very green. only musky i’ve found were a little up the pickerel in the bay, weeds actually had broad leaves, area seemed stained when we hooked into the musky, we stay at key lodge, old man (si, or sigh) passed a few years back but we still love it, august is hot but still a fun trip, 7 smallies 5lb plus last year
Hi All, I have been fishing the area in June for the last several years. We have stayed at GBFC and now we stay at Key Harbour Lodge. I love the area and the fishing is great in June. So far I have two musky in the 20lb range. This just a tease to get me to go back for larger fish. I am going to go back in October this year and camp out in the French River park. Can anyone direct me to some areas that could be productive for some beasty musky? We catch and release for pictures only.
Have we met, Rod?? Im a long time GBFC June fisherman, and went to McIntosh for years before that.
Havent been up in a few years (4??)
Why are you at Key Harbour now, instead of GBFC?
Email me, and we can discuss camp sites, and fishing areas.
Jim
jimmunnis@yahoo.com