Camp Mc Intosh French River Outlet Dallas Rapids Georgian Bay Ontario, Canada

Camp Mc Intosh I recently came by their facebook page.

This is the best really big yellow pickerel ( walleye hole in all of Canada ).

If you do not believe me just try to rent a cabin out there when the big ones run each year.

Hundreds of over 15 pound yellow pickerel have been taken here in the summer usually somewhere around June 10 when the big ones come in off the big bay & head up the French River to Dallas Rapids which is as far as they can go.

All the cabins & lodges are usually booked in advance by experienced walleye fisherman during these times each year.

They are only around for about ten days each year so the timing has to be right.

This is no secret to fisherman who know the area & have fished there for years.

The method is to troll at night using the 7 inch silver & black floating Rapala trolled slowly behind the boat.

I never let out more than 50 feet of line using this method at night & I place a split shot sinker 18 inches ahead of the Rapala & then jam the knot down on the eye to make the lure run right with the nose of the lure headed downwords.

The last time I was there I got a 17 pound yellow pickerel using this method at night.

The water in the French River was way up that year & roaring over Dallas Rapids which you could not even get close to becuase of the rapids & dangerous fast water.

I released the fish after I towed it back to my campsite & weighed it.

I did this because my son had the net in his boat.

My son had the camera in his boat also so no photo was possible as he was off trolling out on the big water.

Below are photos of the best Rapalas for night time trolling for monster walleye ( yellow pickerel ) on The French River Dallas Rapids area of Georgian Bay. Always use the floating models for this type of trolling.

The smaller Rapala is for trolling really shallow along shoal lines at night.

The yellow pickerel will feed very shallow at night on shoals in Georgian Bay & the big Rapala runs to deep when they are in real close.

Personally I use twenty pound ( 20lb. ) regular Clear Blue Stren for trolling the big Rap & 12 pound test for trolling the smaller one.

Many new lines have come out on the market over the years claiming this & that but the truth is none of them have ever equalled The Du Pont Regular Blue Stren ( in my opinion ).

I have tried many other lines but still prefer the first line I ever used even though I know Du Pont does not really need my little bit if money.

No other line has the stretch Stren has which makes it hard for big fish to break on fast runs & it is proven over many years to be very strong line & durable in the twenty pound size.

It cast very well as it is not stiff like many of the lines claiming to be superior or stronger which is basically just sales talk made by pros who do it & say it just for the money.

If anyone tells you there is a better fishing lure for trolling for big yellow pickerel than the ones I have pictured below take that with a grain of salt.

No other fishing lure has even began to come close to the originial Rapala for fish catching ability or most importly sales.

It is not the best & largest selling fishing lure in the world for nothing & it now sells for around $13.00 each or more.

They buy these lures because they work better than anything else on the market especially for trolling in Georgian Bay French River Area French River Provincial Park Ontario, Canada.

Where I live in Ohio you can tow these lures around behind your boat all day & night long & most of the time all you will catch is boredom as they simply do not work around here period.

Leave all your fancy colored & cleverly designed deep divers at home unless you enjoy towing weeds around all day & night long.

Published in: on August 9, 2011 at 10:46 am  Leave a Comment  
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Near Dead Island, Aalto’s Isle & Key River Swirl Holes Georgian Bay

These photos were sent to me by one of the local cabin owners who fished this area for over 40 years.

He also sent me the photo of Ivan Kewakundo the guide at Key Harbour Lodge for many years.

He found this picture of Ivan in a book called North Eastern Georgian Bay & It’s People.

I would have to say this picture of Ivan brought a few tears to my eyes & opened my heart.

Send me your photographs, stories or historical website links about this area or it’s history you would like to share & I will post them.

email adress: bd@billdice.com

Bill Dice

Published in: on May 28, 2010 at 3:12 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Georgian Bay Bass Hole Trophy Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass On Surface Lures Lower Pickerel River Area French River Provincial Park System Key River Area Georgian Bay Ontario, Canada

Bill Dice Of Dayton, Ohio Fishing In The Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Largemouth Bass To 13 Pounds

The Key River Area of Georgian Bay has some of the best big smallmouth & largemouth bass fishing to be had in all of Canada.

Smallmouth Bass To Nine Pounds

You can expect to take largemouths & smallmouths up to six pounds on surface lures if you are there at the right time & place.

The right time means if the bass are hitting surface lures as The Georgian Bay is no different than any other fishing area in this respect.

Sometimes they simply do not cooperate & simply will not take surface lures.

The right place means where the big bass are & sometimes you have to do some searching & experimenting to figure this out depending on weather conditions & water levels in any given year.

Both the Canadian record Largemouth Bass & Smallmouth Bass lurk in this area.

Nine pound smallmouth bass have been caught & released in this area along with largemouth up to ten pounds.

The big largemouth are sometimes difficult to locate as they will always be where the water is warm & deep enough for their liking.

The smallmouth are much easier to locate & catch as they like colder & deeper water areas such as shoals, boulder piles, steep cliff faces & rivers & streams with fast moving water & currents nearby.

Coves sheltered from North winds facing South always seem to be the best place to find the largemouth.

All sheltered coves with deep warm water in them or close by hold largemouth in this area.

I have never caught a big largemouth in warm water areas where there were no deep holes of at least six feet or more.

Some areas look fabulous but do not have any deep holes in them & all you will catch there is small largemouth.

The largemouth & smallmouth bass are not legal in Canada until the fourth week of June when their annual spawning cycle is over which means you have to release them unharmed if you catch one by accident fishing for other species which are legal at the time.

Many rivers that run into Georgian Bay are off limits to fishing certain species in the spring months of the year.

Check the law on this before you go after them.

The Georgian Bay Bass Hole is located in an off limits fishing area for most species in early spring.

We discovered the bass hole fishing for crappies there in early May one year & caught & released one largemouth after another on crappie jigs & round weighted bobbers with 6 pound Stren line.

The weather kicked up out on the bay so we went way back in to go after big black crappies in an area we had caught them in before.

We were drifting the jigs behind the boat & allowing the wind to drift us along & we started hooking one big largemouth bass after another up to seven pounds.

In early spring they all gather in warm shallow water areas way back in & up the rivers to the back bays where they spawn.

After spawning most scatter all over the area with the exception of a few that stay in these areas all year.

The best method is called ”Walking The Dog” With The  Zara Spook.

Big surface lures with spinners often produce a lot of big bass & big hits.

Toss them back in the pockets & ledges along the cliff or rock faces where the water is warm & 5 to 6 feet deep or more & that is where you will find most of them laying.

Each big bass has its own little hole in Georgian Bay.

Please release them to fight another day.

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Big Smallmouth Bass

Big Large Mouth Bass Taken In The Bass Hole

Bill Dice With Seven & One Half Pound Smallmouth Bass

Bill Dice With Big Largemouth Bass

Herb Pigg With Big Largemouth Bass

Duke Dice Big Bass Georgian Bay

Herb Pigg With Big Largemouth Bass

Eight Pound Bass Taken On Zara Spook In Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Published in: on November 5, 2009 at 12:04 am  Comments (2)  
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