Weekly Update

It's been a busy week in camp with a full house, and the fishing has been great. The Whitakers & Roberts hired walleye guide Bill Clark on Thursday and the group managed to pull in six walleyes over 25inches.Jeff Bryndal and Paul Brickman experienced the catch of a lifetime the other day in Satchel's Bay. Paul had just landed a 33inch, 10lb. pike when Jeff hooked an identical size muskie! They photographed both fish at the same time and those photos will be posted as soon as possible.

Dave Williams with his mid-week walleye catch.

A friendly neighbor behind camp.

In other news:

-Lunge Lodge would like to introduce "The best bagels on the French River". Fresh homemade bagel sandwiches are now being offered in the boxed lunches. Mary, the cook, bakes the fresh bagels on a daily basis for all to enjoy.

-Tentative ice-fishing is scheduled for this winter! Plans are currently in the works, so if you're considering testing out the winter fishing on the Upper French River, let us know what you think.

Upgrade

Looking to try something new? Check out this new 16' Crestliner Deep V boat, now available for rent as an upgrade to the standard Sylvans. Fish in comfort and style for an additional fee of $200 for a 7-day stay, and $150 for a 4-day stay. To reserve the Crestliner for your trip contact Mike through email or by phone @ 705-763-2180.

June 19

Heavy winds hampered boat control for much of the week for my father Roger Merics and his boat partner Bill Martin. Still managed to have a good time, catching some nice walleye and a good musky taken by Roger on the 19th.

Surface temps were 75 when they arrived on the 15th dropping into the 60's by the time they departed on the 23rd.

June 18, 2007

We have had a few good storms roll through the area in the last couple of days and we received the rain that we needed.Overall, the fishing has been good. Dr. Kip Miller landed a nice 36 inch Muskie on the season opener. The Jordan group continues to score some big walleyes and they enjoyed the fruits of their labor with a delicious shore lunch. Roger Merics and Bill Martin caught 17 walleyes on Sunday and spent today Muskie fishing. Stay tuned. Anyone who follows the report page knows that Roger and his son Jay have caught some of the camps most impresive Muskies, and pike.
The surface Temp on the river is 74 degrees.

JORDAN TOPA GROUP

The Jordan Group poses with some nice Eyes on the first day of their trip. These fish were all caught in the middle of the day in 8-15 ft of water.

BASS SEASON

Yesterday I called Bill Clark who is the Conservation officer for our area. Even he was confused and had to drive to the office and check a memo. Jay is correct, bass season opens on June 23. It was the only part of the new regulations, set for next season ,that passed through this years legislation.

global warming?

Snow last week and the Sahara desert this week. The surface Temp. on the river has jumped to 75 degrees. The good news is the river is still rising and the weed beds are becoming visible. The staff went pike fishing last night and we caught 6. Morgan landed a 30 incher on a 5 of diamonds spoon. Although bass season is a few weeks away they are hard to avoid. The smallmouths are everywhere.

Lure selection

Just got word from a father son group in camp that they are hammering multiple species by trolling a 5/8 ounce gold erie dearie in the bays. There total for the week this far is as follows. Over 40 pike, 30 walleye, numerous bass, and believe it or not 2 muskies. Today's muskie was 53 inches and was successfully released. They showed me the video and it was a HUGE fish. Norm, and Darren say that every fish except one was caught on the Erie dearies tipped with worms. Remember that when the muskie season opens this week down size your lures! Also, Norm is using Marker buoys to set a trolling course. Consider these valuable tools when fishing with us. I carry several with me when I am in the boat. They are a great way to mark structure for walleyes. Locate fish or a hump and toss a marker out.

June 11th Update

The father/son Bronder group is in camp this week, and some of the younger members of the group have been outfishing their dads. An honorable mention goes out to John Audley for his 22-inch smallmouth caught last night. No picture is available yet, but here are some of the catches that have been caught on camera so far:

Nick Blair caught this 20inch largemouth bass last night.

Zach Byrne with a nice 30inch walleye, caught on a jig and worm in front of Hardy's Bay.

Additional Notes:

-walleyes are now biting in the main river channels as well as the bays.

-pike fishing's turning on. One noteable 17lb. pike was caught in Twilight Bay on Monday.

-the kids in camp had quite an experience the other night, when they were reeling in a bass, and a muskie rolled in and grabbed the bass right at the boat.

-river conditions: the main river water level is good, and rising slightly. Main river surface temperature is 65 degrees with temperatures as high as 69 degrees in the bays.

Some Passport Restrictions Relaxed

The Cleveland Plain Dealer had an article about passports just this morning. It restates that passports are only needed for flying (this year) and some restrictions have been lifted due to the backlog of processing passports. See: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1181305863230640.xml&coll=2

Update

The fishing has been good despite the daily fronts that are passing through. As the weedbeds develop the pike fishing is becoming better. Several nice muskies have been caught by pike fisherman. One fish was 52". Of course Muskie season is not open and these fish were released. The muskies spawned on time, Mid-May and should be over their Post Spawn hangover by the time the season begins on June 16th. Look for them at the mouths of bays and the main river channel. I don't think there will be many shallow fish. The real story is the great walleye fishing. The Wright group hired guide Billy Commanda on Thursday and caught around 25 keepers including 5 fish that were over 5lbs. Anyone arriving in the month of June should consider fishing the south bays along the river. The Spot tailed shiners are spawning in the bays over sand flats. These minnows attract just about every game fish that swims the French. Sand Bay is Red Hot!
We held our 4th staff fishing derby last night and we landed 6 walleyes, a nice pike, too many perch to count, and a few bass. I won the derby with a 18inch walleye but Todd will probably say it doesn't count since he was back home for the week. We probavly wont have much time for derbies in the next month but stay tuned.

We are still getting questions about passports. Just a reminder, you do not need a passport unless you are flying into Canada.

The week in review

The last week brought a large group of guests into camp along with a few days of severe weather conditions. The Grazer group arrived on Friday in soaring temperatures that reached the high 80's. The Grazers were hot on walleye catches all week long, including this 26 inch beauty caught by Joe on Monday night.

The Wrights are also in camp this week and Pat reeled in a pike over 30 inches.

The weather throughout the week fluctuated from 90 degrees to freezing temperatures within days. Yesterday saw ice pellets and snow out on the river, and tomorrow we're expecting things to return to normal 70 degree temps.
Our third staff fishing derby was held tonight, and we managed to bring in several walleye and a few smallmouth. Morgan grabbed top prize this evening for her 17.5 inch catch in Sand Bay, knocking Todd out of the leading position. Despite the extreme weather conditions everyone in camp has been able to land a few good catches over the last week, so keep posted to find out what the next week holds when the Bronder group arrives.