Key Harbour Lodge Key River Georgian Bay Ontario, Canada

When Fritt’s & I first started going to Georgian Bay years ago we would always go to The Key Harbour Lodge to buy gasoline, cigarettes, bread, live bait & anything we would run out of.

Back in those days if you went up in May when the yellow pickerel were running there would be at least 500 fishing parties camped out on the islands & all the lodges were booked years ahead.

This area & The Moon River area of Georgian Bay were the hottest big yellow pickerel fishing in all of Canada for many years.

Fifteen to seventeen pound yellow pickerel were common & very few would run under six pounds when they came out of the big lake & started up the rivers to spawn.

Fishermen would be trolling all over the area & any lure would do but most used the floating black & silver floating Rapalas.

You could easily get your limit in an hour or two or catch & release large numbers in a days time.

When a fishermen got a hook up they would yell out “Fish On”.

We carried on that tradition & always yell out fish on when we get a hookup.

One year one of the guys that went with us tied on a small yellow Rooster Tail & he hooked one pickerel after another & out-fished all of us with six pound line & ultra light rod.

He used the same lure all week & had it when he left minus a few tail feathers.

When we first started going up to the Key River Mrs. Lyttle owner of Key Harbour Lodge was very nice to us & took use under her wing.

She knew we were young & inexperienced & worried about us just like any mother would her own children.

We always enjoyed going to the lodge to see the big fish pictures & chat with the experienced fishermen that were staying there.

We would go in the evening when they came in from a days fishing & that way we could see what they got & find out where.

They had an Indian Guide named Ivan & he told us to get there early in the morning & we could follow him when he took out fishing parties & he would lead us to all the hot spots in the area.

No one knew more about the area than Ivan & probably never will.

Ivan told us to always use twenty pound line in Georgian Bay & he only used one lure A red & white Daredevil the medium or next size down from the standard size model & he always had a wire leader.

Mrs. Lyttle’s son Al grew up at the lodge & trapped the area for many years & he had a cabin out on the islands where he & his family lived.

He also showed us where to go & he would help us fix our boat motors when we had a problem.

Mr. Lyttle had a stroke & lived at the lodge until he passed away at which time she put the lodge up for sale & retired.

Mrs. Lyttle always treated us special even though we never stayed at the lodge & went out of her way to teach us things & caution us about weather & cold water & the dangers of small boats in Georgian Bay storms & bears & rattlesnakes.

She told us to leave some bacon & grease out overnight in a skillet if we wanted to see a big black bear in our camp & warned us about not cooking or leaving anything in our tents that had an odor including soap & things like that.

She told us black bears in Georgian Bay can get real nasty when cornered so we should always give them a quick way out if we got one cornered by accident walking around the islands.

One time we told her the pike were not hitting.

She laughed & told us to catch a few live perch & put them in a minnow bucket & put one out set four foot deep on a bobber & then come back & tell her what happened.

Boy did we.

One ten to fifteen pound pike after another right off the bank at our campsite.

From that time on when we told her we got a big pike trolling or casting lures she would always smirk & say “Sure You Were Not Using A Live Perch?”.

The Lyttles ran the lodge for many years & all of them were top notch people that helped us every way they could.

They went out of their way to teach us everything they knew.

They always had a big smile when we returned each year.

They also had a pay telephone if we needed to call home for anything.

If you are not the wilderness camping type The Key Harbour Lodge is a great place to stay & learn the area.

You can catch big pickerel in the bay at night when they are running & also really big pike over twenty pounds.

They also have guides & tackle & gasoline.

Yo can fish the areas we fish from Key Harbour Lodge & even run out to The French & Bad River Areas or Bustard Islands when the weather is right if you have a deep boat & 25 HP motor.

We always camped out there when we went because of our small motors.

If you are after largemouth this area is better than The French or Bad River area if you know where to go.

The smallmouth fishing is good out there but the water is to cold for largemouth & they are hard to locate out in the big water areas & bays.

For largemouth go back in & find the warm water bays & swamps with lilly pads with six to ten feet of water nearby.

Low Water Conditions: Mrs. Lyttle told us years ago that Georgian Bay has a 35 year water cycle where it goes up for 35 years & then down for 35 years.

If her theory is correct & I believe it is the water levels in Georgian Bay should start going back up again in the next few years as the water started to go down slowly when we first started going up so the down cycle should be about over.

The water has really been low over the last few years & that hurts a lot of the really good bass holes many of which may be high & dry.

The bass are still around somewhere so you just have to find them.

When we were young & full of vigor we would fish from sun up to sun down.

One year one of the local Indians stopped by our boat & simply said:

If the fish ain’t biting boys “Why Don’t You Leave Them Alone?”

He said he drops his worm down & if he gets one right away he keeps fishing & if not he pulls up his line & goes home & drinks a couple of beers.

He knew no one could make a fish bite.

We found that out the hard way but it was sure fun trying.

Big Black Crappie Key River Area Georgian Bay Ontario, Canada

Many serious crappie fishermen consider The Key River area to be some of the best big crappie fishing in North America & many of them fish for nothing but crappie on their annual trips up north.

Maribou Jigs set three feet deep on weighted small round bobbers work best in weed beds.

Small Mr. Twister Grubs & special crappie tube jigs work well also.

Live bait fishermen use minnows & bobber & they can get their limit in a hurry on a good crappie hole.

We use light outfits with six pound test Stren line.

One to three pound Black Crappie are common & when they are hitting you can catch all you want.

Check with local stores or lodges for information on the best places & time.

The Georgian Bay Bass Hole is full of them in Spring & summer & fall.

There is a pan fish hole on The Key River that is full of Big Crappie & pan-fish & the kids can catch them on small twister grubs one after another.

The Key River is full of crappie & you have to know where to find them in backwater bays out on Georgian Bay & around islands.

Ontario Big Fish Records

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

We have caught black crappies up to 3 1/2 pounds.

Big Channel Or Blue Catfish Key River Area Georgian Bay Ontario, Canada

The Georgian Bay is full of really big Blue Channel Catfish & we have caught many over the years.

All you have to do is put out a live fish on a bobber at your campsite & leave it out overnight.

Tie your pole down or it will be gone in the morning.

The best place to catch them is below falls or rapids of any type fishing at night.

They hit night crawlers or minnows or any type of live fish or crawdads, etc.

The catfish my son caught could be a record at 40 pounds as they do not list Blue Catfish as a species in Ontario which would make it a channel catfish for sure & probably one of the niggest ever taken.

I doubt that we even thought about it at the time.

Channel Catfish

Blue Catfish

You tell me? Were these Blue Catfish Or Channel Catfish?

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Custom Made Dice Device Secret Fishing Lures For Key River Area Of The Georgian Bay

Patent Pending

Patent Pending

 

 

Patent Pending

Patent Pending

Most fishermen think I am making it up or exaggerating when I tell them I used to be one of the top lure designers in America.

The only way I could convince them was to show them some of my work & give them one of my lures to try.

They would send me pictures of the fish they caught on them.

Believe me many people that manufacture lures have heard from me over the years & the ones that are still alive know who I am.

I could drop some big names on you if I wanted to but most of them are dead now anyway.

The lure I am holding in both hands is the one I call the Key River Killer & I was going to manufacture & market it & had all the patents applied for and everything like that & I still have it protected but I had to move & get rid of all my Pexto sheet metal forming tools & just never had the time or passion to do it anymore.

The name Dice Device is protected & patents are pending on all lures shown.

My first lures pictured at the top were great but to labor intense so it was impossible to manufacture them in America.

The first one has a unique hook holder device that keeps the hook solid on the rear shaft.

Most fishermen would put a Twister Grub on it.

This lure murdered fish in Alaska & especially pike.

I made a jigging spoon model & it was hot at Dale Hollow Lake.

I made a snake jig for Lake Erie & all you had to do was drag it behind the boat & drift it like live bait & walleye would absolutely go crazy over it.

My son called it the best Lake Erie lure he had ever used.

The picture above called the snake spoon is not it.

I don’t show my real snake jig to anyone.

They vibrate & swim side to side & the action murders big pike & muskie.

The hook holder device was worthy of a mechanical patent but I let it go because no one in the tackle business could think of anything to do with it other than me.

I use it on several of my designs like the snake jig & they will not work right without it.

The one I am holding in both hands murders all fish of The Georgian Bay & it only has one hook & never snags & always lands upright on the bottom when casted.

It goes right through weeds & over trees & rocks without hanging up without wire weed guards.

I also make models with weed gaurds but they are not necessary & the lure has better action without them.

It is made of solid .065 to .080 yellow hard brass  & it is heavy & cast like a Daredevil & it has that side to side action like a Rapala & the tail swims like a snake at the same time.

It kills two birds with one stone & often gets more action than the Daredevil or Rapala & that is not something easy for any lure to do as they are the best available for Georgian Bay fishing hands down.

It took a long time to get it right & I hand made a lot of models & prototypes.

It has a heavy Mustad cadium plated hook just like a Daredevil.

I rivet the hook but it can be spot welded if you buy unplated hooks & know how to do that.

The lure can be nickel, brass, silver or gold plated or custom painted red & white like a Daredevil or any other color you want.

Some fishermen make it all black & fish for big bass with it at night.

I have them in all sizes up to a foot long for muskie & it may well best the best big muskie lure ever designed.

I have never had the time to test it on them in Georgian Bay.

I have a few that need testing in Georgian Bay if you would like to try them I can mail one to you with instructions on how to rig it & use it.

They are not plated but polished brass works well anyway.

You just use Brasso brass polish on them & they shine like gold after you hand buff them with a rag.

Unplated brass tarnishes like silver & Brasso brings the shine back.

I spent hours & hours balancing & testing these lures in my 35,000 gallon swimming pool.

They can be made in a punch press & I know a company that can manufacture the whole thing with the exception of the six inch long rubber skirts.

The problem was the rubber skirt manufacturer wanted $15,000.00 cash up front to alter their equipment to make the six inch long skirts for the standard size & they wanted a half million order at ten cents each & that is $50,000.00 & I was not interested in putting up $65,000.00 to make a lure that is specialized to The Georgian Bay area or Canada.

Marketing fishing lures is strictly for established companies that already have distributors that make a lot of money selling their products.

You could have them made in China real cheap but that is not my thing.

We have to much of that now & not enough jobs.

The rubber skirt will need to replaced by fishermen from time to time because fish bite the rubber off after you catch a few big pike or muskie.

The Arbogast Hula Popper was like that also.

Their skirts always had to be replaced sooner or later.

I have also tied rabbit fur & things like that & believe me they work that way to.

I have experimented with many materials for the skirt.

Even leather & cloth.

I know how to tie pike & muskie flies so tying on different tail materials is no problem for me but it would be for people not interested in that sort of thing or the hassle of it.

The lure manufacturing company wanted .55 cents a copy to stamp them & rivet or weld the hook on & nickle plate them. Gold or silver plate was higher. 

That was a good deal back then.

It would probably be higher today.

All I had to do was attach the skirt & package them nice & they would retail for $3.29 back then.

I used to send my ideas & designs to lure manufacturing companies & they would blow me off or humiliate me or big time me & all that.

No matter how big or rich they are some inventor like me came up with the idea in the first place or they would not even be in the business today.

It would matter not what you sent them.

I was a big time Industrial & Commercial Auctioneer at that time & was doing it more for fun than money anyway.

One of the old auctioneers jokes: You Can’t Take It With You & Even If You Could It Would Probably Burn!”.

Auctioneers Last Will & Testament: “Being Of Sound Mind!”- “I Spent Every Dime!”.

Patents are worthless because it cost $40,000.00 just to begin a patent infringement suit.

If two copy it double that & so on.

There are 80,000 patents on fishing lures & mouse traps.

The Rapala does not have a patent on it & it is the best selling lure in the whole world or at least the biggest money maker.

Mechanical patents are very hard to come up with but I have & usually by accident.

If you get a hold of one of my original lures with the name Dice Device hang on to it because they are collector items & only 2,000 were made & sold & one man bought most of them at my auction when I had to move.

Some of the lures I have come up with are unique & much better than the famous ones but I will not show them to anyone & especially not big time tackle companies.

I have a spinning lure design that is much better than Mepps or Rooster tail because the blade spins but the lure does not.

It also makes clicking noises.

The two spinning lures pictured above are like that also.

They do not spin but the blade does.

They are balanced to stay upright & never spin yet they have that side to side action that is so good in Georgian Bay.

Both of these lures throw out humming vibrations because of the wire configurations.

After the way they treated me the last time I sent them designs I will take it to the grave with me & let fishermen continue to twist their line up with their inferior lures.

My surface lure designs are well proven in The Georgian Bay & The Bass Hole.

They are made of wood & the spinners are very reliable.

I do not share them with anyone.

I used to make custom lures for a bass pro that was getting places but he got killed coming home from a tournament.

He used to test my new designs for me.

I made special spinner baits for him by hand & he won a lot of money with them.

He would only use white ones if that means anything.

They say fish are color blind but the highly educated people that figured that out are not fish so If I were you I would take that with a grain of salt.

He would actually challenge other pro fishermen & they would have fish offs on The Ohio River & he was sponsored by Red Man Chewing Tobacco & Reds Worms.

I invented the worlds first totally weedless & snag-less lead head jig & it would spring open only after a fish hit it.

It was something else but again a manufacturing nightmare so I just shelved it although everyone that saw it was amazed how it worked flawlessly & the fact you could put a small propeller on the shaft.

The four slide guy was flabergasted & said it would take one hell of a machine to do it.

I will be putting up more of my lure designs  as time goes on & I hope you enjoy making them & using them.

There is no law against getting some .065 to 0.80 yellow brass & cutting out the pattern with a metal cutting band saw & pounding out a few for your own personal use.

Use a bench grinder & buffer polisher wheel with polishing abrasive stick or gel to take off the rough edges.

Get a piece of thick rubber & lay the cut out pattern on it & then use the round end of a ball peen hammer to shape it by pounding on top of the rubber.

Put a piece of cloth on top of the blank when you pound.

Drill the hole & get a rivet setter & the right size rivets & set the rivet with the tool.

You have to know the I.D. of your hook eye to get the right size rivet & also the the thickness of the lure & hook eye material to determine the right length for setting.

Do not use steel rivets.

Try to get stainless steel or brass as steel will rust.

If you want to have them plated silver or gold do that before you rivet the hook on.

If you get unplated hooks you can also solder or spot weld them to the lure body.

Nothing is more fun than making your own lures & then testing them out in Georgian Bay.

You may even come up with improvements or a better design or idea.

If you are a Canadian Lure Manufacturing Company & would like to manufacture & market any of my designs under the Dice Device name let me know & we can work out a royality agreement & I will also throw my other ideas & designs your way.

All of my lures work well in The Georgian Bay & all over Canada & have been throughly tested.

They are good for yellow pickerel, pike, muskie, smallmouth bass & largemouth bass & they are hard to snag up & go over tree limbs & logs without snagging on them.

If you cast them out & let them sink they always land on the bottom hook up & do not spin on the way down.

I could care less about the money aspect as I am 63 years old & burnt out on business anyway.

Much rather go fishing in Georgian Bay.

New Career At Age 63 just to have something to do.

williamdaviddice@yahoo.com

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

 

 

How To Rig & Troll Rapalas For Key River Area Of The Georgian Bay.

Rapalas are by far the top lure to use in The Key River area of The Georgian Bay for trolling for yellow pickerel or for anything else as far as that goes.

The Big Rapala closely resembles the ciscoes which is the number one bait fish that pike, muskie & yellow pickerel eat in The Georgian Bay.

It is also a top big pike & muskie bait & both largemouth bass & smallmouth will hit it if you troll it or cast it by them.

Anything that swims in The Georgian Bay will hit Rapalas trolling & you can also cast them but they are much better for trolling than casting.

The two lures in the above photo are the only two sizes you need in the Key River area & silver & black are favored by most.

Both are floaters & the larger one is used more often than the smaller one because it goes down deeper & is the lure Georgian Bay fishermen use to catch large pickerel trolling at night.

I always use twenty pound test with the bigger Rapala for trolling or casting.

The large one goes deeper than the smaller one.

Use the small one in shallow water areas or shoals but it will not cast well with twenty pound line as it is much lighter than the big seven inch one.

Always use a wire leader or a solid s.s. .020 wire like I explained under Zara Spook in the day time.

The length does not matter but I prefer heavy ones six inch long.

You do not have to use a wire leader for night time trolling for yellow pickerel & the action of the lure will be much better without one.

Pike & muskie very seldom hit after dark where I fish.

I always jam the knot down on the eye & put a split shot eighteen inches ahead of the lure to keep the nose down for yellow pickerel trolling at  at night.

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Man Eating Bugs & Insects In Key River Area Of The Georgian Bay

One of the nice things about bugs & insects is that most people do not like them & avoid them at all cost.

That is one of the reasons the wilderness fishing & camping is so good on The Georgian Bay for people who camp out.

The bugs keep most people away & that is fine with me.

There are three bugs up there you have to worry about;

mosquito

black fly

deer fly

Main thing is to be in your tent when the wind stops & the sun starts going down or cover your whole body with something that keeps them off your bare skin.

I always take head-nets & light gloves & cover all exposed skin when they get bad.

Personally I do no like repellents but for those who do the bugs seem to like to eat the ones with deet in them the best.

They all work for a short while but when the bugs are really bad most people head for the tents or out on the water where the wind keeps them away.

The black fly starts in early spring & can be bad until the last days of June at which time mosquitoes take over.

All you can do about black flies is they really bother you is stay home.

Believe me I have tried everything.

They can crawl over or under anything & get to your skin no matter what you do.

A lot of people go to Georgian Bay on June 28 every year to avoid the black fly & bass fishing becomes legal at that time out around the islands.

Many say it is the all around best time to go if you are going anywhere out past Dead Island where you can catch all the small-mouth you want on light outfits or fly fishing gear.

Many people go at the end of September to avoid bugs altogether after the first frost.

This is the very best time for big pike short of October which is really harsh on campers at times & especially campers my age.

The duck hunters invade at this time of year so don’t be surprised if it sounds like world war two one morning.

There are a lot of ducks on Georgian Bay.

If you camp somewhere with a breeze off the big water it will help to blow the bugs away from your campsite.

If a big storm blows up it will also help you to lose your tent & boat & half your gear.

When the wind goes dead or the sun goes down the bugs in Georgian Bay come out to play.

You will find that out so always take a head-net, bug jacket, special light gloves & tape your pants legs & shirt sleeves & collar with duct tape if you want to cast & fish at night or cook without doing it in your tent which is a no no in bear country.

Gas lanterns will attract bugs & so will camp stoves or lights.

Campfire smoke drives them away so we always like to build a fire at night.

We liked to exaggerate about all the big ones that got away or tell fish & hunting stories from the past or recollect the good times.

One more thing.

If anyone knows what to do about deer flies that bite you in your boat out in the middle of the lake when you are fishing let me know.

They can be worse than black flies or mosquitoes at times & they do sneak attacks time & time again.

Sometimes you feel like diving off the side of the boat to get away from a pesky one.

If one of them nails you on the face you will know it when your head swells up & you can not see out of one eye anymore.

Make sure you get a bug bite kit & take it with you & dab the stick on the bites when they happen which they will if you go where I go.

Ammonia will also work if you bring some in a small bottle & dab the bite site with a Q tip.

The Bass Hole is a swamp area & there is nothing more bugs like in The Georgian Bay than swamps.

There is nothing more small fish love to eat & bass love to eat the small fish that live in swamps & a good reason they like to hang out there in the first place.

No bugs no large-mouth.

Frogs & snakes & birds eat bugs & large-mouth eats them.

Everything that lives in Georgian Bay eventually gets eaten by something including bugs.

If you are there in the evening you will know what I mean.

The more you fight bugs the more aggressive they get.

I just ignore them & brush them off lightly when I feel them land.

When it gets real hot & the wind is dead they begin their attack both day & night & they love sweat & skin with blood underneath.

You are a much easier meal than the local wildlife as they have heavy fur to get through & no bare spots.

Human beings are like gourmet meals to them.

Always bring one of those bug coils & light it & put it in your tent to kill all the bugs that got in your tent when you opened the doors.

Always do that before you go to bed for the night if you really want to sleep.

I you have ever had a mosquito buzz you at night in a tent you know what I mean especially if he nails you in the face or hand over & over again.

Also know hornets & bees in the bush can actually kill a man if you disturb a nest so leave the thought about honey for breakfast to the bears & beware of hollow rotten logs or holes if you see bees going in & out.

It would be a good idea not to camp there or disturb them.

If bees or hornets attack all you can do is hope you are close to water & dive in it & stay under until they leave.

If you are allergic to bee or insect sting make sure you take the proper shot kit with you just in case.

Adolph’s steak tenderizer will work on bug bites & bee & wasp & hornet stings to neutralize the venom & keep the swelling down.

 Just get a small amount wet & apply it to the bite immediately.

It works.

Especially on painful bee stings.

Believe me I have used it many times over the years.

That is one reason many of the women always turn me down when I invite them to go with me.

That is a good way of keeping your fishing trips all to the men.

Show them pictures of yourself all swelled up from bug bites & then show them pictures of the rattlesnakes & bears & wolves then tell them you have to jump in the lake to take a bath & then tell them how cold the water is & how bad the weather can be.

Tell them black bears very seldom kill campers but sometimes they do.

Tell them wolves do not kill humans unless they are starving.

Watch their expressions when you do that.

If you have one like that best to leave her at home.

If none of these things work tell her there are no toilets & you have to go in the woods.

That usually does it.

The Georgian Bay is no place for women that have to be pampered to be happy.

Strictly for the outdoor type that grew up in the woods.

Some women have to have a cabin & I doubt that will ever change.

Most prefer a hot tub & gourmet meals & all that.

I prefer the wilderness & camping in the woods.

Do yourself a favor & don’t take anyone with you that is like that men or women alike.

Not if you want to enjoy your trip.

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Wilderness Canoe Camping & Fishing Trips In Key River Area Of The Georgian Bay

If you love to canoe & camp in the wilderness like I do The Key River area of The Georgian Bay can not be beat.

If you also like to fish you will will get plenty of action irregardless of where you stop for the night.

There are unlimited places to stop & set-up camp with no hassle or red tape.

You will see more bears & moose in a canoe than a motor boat because wild animals can hear boat motors a long way off & usually book it or step back into the bush when they do.

Bear & moose swim from island to island & if you are lucky you may catch one in the process.

Canoe camping is different than motor boat camping simply because you have to go light & keep all your gear to a minimum & leave the lawn chairs, folding cots & heavy lanterns, camp stoves, gasoline & all that behind.

All you need is a good open faced spinning rod & assortment of small floating Rapalas, Daredevils, Rooster Tails, Mepps, Mr Twister Grubs, Jig Heads, Safety Pin Spinners for jig heads & extra spools of six, eight, ten & twelve pound test Stren line & six inch long wire leaders in ten to fifteen pound test.

I never take more than one rod on a canoe trip so I prefer Ugly Sticks because the are almost impossible to break unless you smash them with something.

The winds are westerly & the trip out The Key River to Georgian Bay can be a real pain at times if the wind is up.

Many canoeist will make this trip in the evening or early morning to avoid afternoon winds & motor boat traffic which can be pretty heavy on weekends & very few of them slow down for loaded canoes so you will have to keep your boat up & cross over their wakes.

You can also hop a ride out to the bay on a big motor boat if you check around at the road & someone is willing to accommodate you.

Checkout my blog roll for canoe route links & information.

One popular three day trip is putting in at the Pickerel River & coming back to the road up The Key River where you will park your vehicle for a fee.

I only know of one or two portages on this route & the camping & fishing for smallmouth bass & largemouth bass is really good.

Always keep an eye out for rattlesnakes on portages in this area especially near The Pickerel River Falls where it drops down to the Georgian Bay.

I have seen more of them in this area than anywhere else in Georgian Bay & especially in hot weather in July & August.

Many canoeist that have gone through there told me they saw one there & that was the best part of their whole trip.

There are not a lot of rattlesnakes in Ontario, Canada & that was the only chance they had to ever see one in the wild.

You can also take a longer trip by going past the Pickerel River where it drops down into Georgian Bay & keep going on down The French River all the way to Dallas Rapids or The Bad River Channel both of which will take you to Georgian Bay & back to The Key River to the road or if you are brave on to the town of Killarney via Georgian Bay where you can get out there & have someone come to pick you up & take you back to your vehicle.

That would be a trip of a lifetime & it would also take a week or more unless you are into the all out paddle gang.

You can not go directly down The French River from Rte. 69 because of several falls or drops in that area before it joins The Pickerel River where the two come together.

The French River is often high & dangerous in early spring & so is The Pickerel River where it drops down to Georgian Bay.

The rapids & drops there are full of big boulders in early spring when the water is way up & you would do better to line them or carry around them & especially the falls that begins in a very narrow place & just drops out of no where.

I always attach two lining ropes to each end of my canoes & use them or carry when in doubt.

The last time I was out on The French at Dallas Rapids the first of June the water was up seventeen feet & roaring over Dallas Rapids & dangerous was the only word I have for it.

This route is not for everyone in early spring as the carry around Dallas Rapids is a bruiser.

There is a store at The French River on Rte. 69 that hauls canoeist up to Lake Nippissing & they can canoe back to the store where they leave their vehicle.

They offer several different lengths of trips & they also rent canoes.

There are several options to be picked up & all that.

Check with the lodges & stores on Rte. 69 for information & arrangements.

The big danger is cold water out on the big open lake water past Dead Island & this is no place to be if you are not highly skilled in the art of canoeing & safety.

There are back routes marked with buoys that take longer but they are much safer as the route winds through islands that shelter canoes from high winds & big waves.

I could do a whole blog on canoeing but the best thing to do is go to my blog roll & click on Bill Mason & Cliff Jacobson & buy their books on wilderness canoeing & camping.

You will know how & what to do after you read & study them & I can assure you they are the Bible on this subject.

Personally I am a canoe poler & have actually competed in The National Canoe Poling Championships in the past.

I also have a link on that if you are interested.

The Old Town Tripper in Royalex is my favorite canoe for tripping & I also have a fifteen foot Grumman that was made in nineteen fifty.

Always get really good maps & a good compass & study them before you go as you will need them to navigate in Georgian Bay & out around the islands.

When the sun goes down everything & every place out there looks the same at night & it is very easy to get lost or disorientated.

Paddle To Be Free

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

What Not To Do On Georgian Bay Wilderness Camping & Fishing Trips

One of the things that really upset Fritts & I was trash that other fishermen & campers had left behind over the years & especially when they threw it in the water.

Evidently a lot of people that like to hunt or fish in The Key River area could care less about conservation or the next guy that comes along to enjoy the beauty of this pristine wilderness camping area.

We always took trash bags along with us & hauled out all of  our trash out when we left.

We also gathered up & hauled out trash left by other campers  many times.

At many campsite locations trees & vegetation have been chopped down with chain saws & all kinds of human junk are left behind.

You will find dead trees that were killed when campers drove big nails into them to hang things on them & some have even chopped roots in half with an axe so they would not have to step over them.

No one has to trim vegetation or cut down trees or take an axe to tree roots in the wilderness for anything & if they can get all their supplies out there with them they can certainly find a way to bring out their trash with them.

They have dumpsters at the road for that purpose.

Always be careful with camp fires on the islands because high winds are common at night & hot coals will blow a long way in a big wind.

Always dump water on fires before you leave your campsite for anything just to be safe.

Never throw gasoline or white gas on a campfire to get wet wood burning unless you want to become a burn victim.

When walking around the islands always where knee high rubber or leather boots & especially in berry patches or high or thick brush or weeds unless you want to be the next camper to get injected with rattlesnake venom at the hospital in Parry Sound.

They are there & appear when you least expect it & especially at night when they come out of their dens to feed.

Remember that when you get out of your tent at night or you have the urge to take a moonlit stroll on the islands.

Always use a good bright light & make sure you do not step on one of them.

They blend in with rocks & are very hard to spot when motionless.

Never ever bother or kill a rattlesnake.

If you are the type that kills nature’s creatures for no reason at all I would just as soon you stay home & so would the Canadian Wildlife people that are doing everything they can to save this species that is vital to the areas fragile ecology & survival.

If you leave them alone they will simply go about their business & go back to their den.

Never ever try to pick one up or handle it unless you are a biologist that has the right equipment & knows how without getting bitten.

I have had no trouble running or getting away from rattlesnakes at all & you can do the same. 

Never keep anything in your tent that smells nice & especially not food, sweets or candy unless you like to kiss big black bears in the middle of the night.

If bears start visiting your campsite to get food pack-up & leave because they will raid your camp every-time you go out fishing or when you go to sleep & the braver ones will do that when you are eating your dinner.

Find another area to camp & don’t be shocked if they discover your new one if it is not to far away.

If you hang your food in a tree they will climb up & get it or simply knock the tree down. 

Most of the bears that grow up on the islands want nothing to do with humans & will go out of their way to avoid you & your food.

They are not really a big problem.

But they are there and you just never know.

If they have a bad berry season bears will be a problem so you need to check that out before you go & that would be a good time to get a cabin.

Bear hunters have a hard time getting bear in The Georgian Bay & the only thing that works is baiting.

They hang meat in a tree & sit on another island with a high powered rifle with scope & wait down wind of course.

If there is a kill nearby stay away from the area.

You will know where that is because the buzzards & vultures with circle it high overhead.

It could be a bear kill or a wolf kill & neither one likes anyone or anything to mess with their kills.

Remember wild animals are not predictable.

Always have a cell phone with you & know who to call if you have an emergency & tell the lodge owners where you park your vehicle where you will be camping out in the bay so they can find you if need be.

They have helicopters that can be there in an hour or so if they know where you are.

Always wear a life jacket in your boat & when you are walking around islands fishing off of rocks.

Leave your car keys at the road with the lodge owner.

Never leave money in your tent when you go out fishing or anything valuable as far as that goes.

Stay off the water when high winds come because they can get up to seventy miles an hour in a hurry in Georgian Bay.

Always tie your boat up real good at night unless you like to swim in cold water to get it back the next day.

Always camp in places sheltered from high winds & bring canvas tarps for rain & windbreaks.

You can slip of fall on wet slick moss on rocks or cliff faces or trip on stones or rocks or downed trees & fall & hit your head on solid jagged stone or slide down the rocks into the water easily in Georgian Bay.

You simply have to use caution at all times & places.

I have slipped & fallen many times up there & I have done that almost everywhere.

There is no place quite like Georgian Bay & it will never be a safe place for many reasons & one of them is thunder storms, lightening & high winds & rough water.

If you practice safety first & use your common sense & become aware of all the dangers before you go none of these things will be a concern to you.

You will know what to do to remain safe unless lightening hits you at which time you will never have nothing to worry about ever again anyway simply because you will probably be dead.

Remember the water is very cold out on the big waters & it will kill you if you go in & can not get back out & warmed in a hurry.

The best way to do that is put a person with no clothes on in a sleeping bag with the victim until they warm up.

Hypothermia is a major killer in The Georgian Bay & it has taken many of the locals over the years & campers, hunters & fishermen.

Always have a big orange distress flag & wave it high on the water if you have a motor breakdown or an emergency & can not get to your phone.

The bigger the flag the better.

Also have an emergency light & reflector mirror for night time emergencies & learn how to use them just in case.

Always have extra dry matches or lighters with you & take extra food just in case a big storm prevents you from leaving on time.

Always take an extra motor when you g out on exploration trips a long way from your camp unless you like to paddle heavy motor boats for sport.

Always have navigation maps on your person & a good compass & knife & emergency blanket & lighter & make them water proof.

If you checkout my blog roll & click on Bill Mason or Cliff Jacobson & get their books on the inter-net or a bookstore you can learn everything you will ever need to know about camping in the wilderness, safety,  first aid , camping equipment, tents, packs, camp cooking, canoe camping & tripping, etc.

They are also fun to read & study in the winter when you get bored waiting for spring to come.

 I have all of their books & many old classics about wilderness camping including one called Cache Lake which has a lot of good information about living in the wilderness.

Please do all you can to stay safe & help keep this area pristine & clean & natural for the generations behind you.

It is all part of The French River Provincial Park now so they are trying to save it from man & you can help.

Georgian Bay Bass Hole

Safety On Georgian Bay Camping & Fishing Trips

The Georgian Bay is dangerous at times.

Storms can & do kick up in a hurry.

High winds cause rough water & huge waves & that is a problem in areas where there are a lot of rocks & shoals just under the surface which is almost everywhere out around the islands.

Always take a weather radio with you & if thunder storms are predicted that day be prepared to get off the water fast & to an island at the first sign of thunder or lightening.

A boat is no place to be in an electrical storm & even solid rock islands are not the best but what other choice do you have?

When lightening hits an island it goes off in all directions & bounces off rocks & careens all over the place.

One year lightening hit one island & shot to another & a whole bunch of big pickerel got electrocuted & floated to the surface & fishermen camped out there were picking them up out of the water along with hundreds of Georgian Bay Gulls that were gorging themselves on the smaller fish killed.

It is best to find a low lying place to crouch down & lay low & preferrably not under high or tall trees.

I like to sit on my life jacket with my kness pulled up by my hands & my head bent down.

It is more of a form of prayer than protection.

If lightening hits you sitting like that on insulated material it will not go through your heart & kill you but it may burn you pretty bad (that is what the book says written by Cliff Jacobson).

If you are standing up erect or laying flat it will destroy your heart & kill you instantly.

Personally I do not want to test this theory on real lightening to see if it works.

All I can tell you is I am still alive & have been in some pretty bad electrical storms up there so my form of protection ( praying ) has worked so far.

I have seen storms so bad no one could get up or down the Key River at all let alone the water out & around the islands & everyone up there was confined to their campsites for several days until the storms subsided.

All the campers out on the islands had their tents blown down or away & they were stuck at their campsites until the storms subsided.

Many lodges had their docks & boats flipped over or destroyed or windows blown out or roofs ripped off.

They call these storms Great Lakes Hurricanes & that is exactly what they are.

I was staying at Key Harbour Lodge one year with my wife at the time & young son Duke when a hurricane kicked up & lasted three days & nights.

One of Al Lyttles children had been playing with my son every day & they thought he was in our cabin but had actually wandered out into the bush in the storm all by himself & was only three or four years old.

Everyone staying there went to search for him & feared the worst as it was getting darkfast.

Luckily one of the camp dogs found him over a mile away way out in the bush which is all solid rock.

That is why I always choose a campsite sheltered from high winds & I always tie my boat up real good where it will not be damaged by big waves banging it on the rocks in a storm in the middle of the night.

I always wear a life jacket in my boat or canoe or when I am walking around on the rocks fishing just in case & just to be safe.

It is very easy to slip & fall in the Georgia Bay & especially so when the rocks are wet or covered with moss or fungus.

I have slipped & fell many times especially trying to step on rocks in the water getting in & out of boats.

I have also fallen out of boats & canoes many times.

Everyone that fishes should wear some kind of glasses or eye protection just to be safe as hooks, sinkers or fishing lures that hit eyes can blind a person in a second & no one is beyond having a back lash or fish throw a hook or lure back into their face at any minute or any time.

I have been lucky as I have had many close calls over the years.

Never ever grab a fish with your bare hands with a Rapala in it’s mouth.

They are slick & will slide through your hands & bring the Rapala with them & all three treble hooks will be in your hands & fingers & then the fish will jump & flap around & you will not like that one bit.

That happened to Fritts one year & I had to take him to the hospital at Parry Sound to get all three hooks removed that were sunk to the bone.

There were fifteen other guys there waiting to get hooks removed & they had them everywhere you could imagine including the eyes & face.

The doctors there have designed special surgical instruments to take them out in a hurry.

I have been to the doctor many times myself over the years & that is why I prefer to smash the barbs down or file them off my hooks & lures just in case.

Most of the times I have hooked myself I did it reaching into a pocket to pull out a lure.

If you keep your line tight & do not slack your line barbless fish hooks will stay in the fish & if you do not believe me put a hook into your hand real deep to the bend & have a friend keep the line pulled tight with constant pressure & try to pull it out.

Barbless hooks also do less damage to fish when pulled out & makes it easier to release them unharmed if you are catch & release like we are.

If you do get hooked all you have to do is pull it out & then soak your wound in dish detergent every day once a day for the rest of your trip.

Joy or Dawn detergent is something to take with you as it will draw infection on cuts & wounds.

Boil water & soak the wound in warm water several times a day.

Always take a first aid kit with you & Neosporin to put on cuts or scratches & make sure you know what to do in a serious emrgency like broken bones, head or neckinjuries or heart attack or stroke emergency or hypothermia.

Always have a way to communicate with lodge owners at the road such as a cell phone, ship to shore or CB radio & let them know when you expect to be back to where you put in to pack up & leave with your vehicle & make sure members of your family have their phone number to call if you don’t show up at home on time.

The locals have Cb radios in their cottages but probably depend more on cell phones today.

Water proof cellphones just in case.

Always take extra food & gasoline just in case & an extra small boat motor just in case.

Use caution at all times when you decide to hike around the islands & be aware that bears, moose , wolves & rattlesnakes live there & you could come upon one at any time or place unexpectedly.

I have looked 600 pound black bears in the eye & had hughe moose stroll right up to me right behind our campsite.

The last time I went up & camped out alone a 350lb mother bear & three big cubs were 50 feet from my tent when I got up at 7:30 A.M. & that is simply not good.

It did get my blood circulating in a hurry.

Luckily they were headed away down the shoreline or I would have been in a dangerous situtation.

Knee high rubber or leather boots are your best protection against snake bite.

When you get out of your tent always look before you go out the door & especially at night when snakes come out of their dens to feed.

We have had rattlesnake dens right behind our tents before & we would be sitting around the campfire & a rattlesnake would crawl right by us & scare the hell out of us & you could hear them rattling in their dens at night.

That can happen anywhere in Georgian Bay & always when you least expect it.

If you try to find a rattlesnake you can never find or locate one.

High weeds or berry patches are not the place to be in tennis shoes or sandals.

Always carry on your person a knife, lighter, a trash bag, a compass & reflector mirror & small flashlight & fsih hooks & line & orange distress flag just in case.

Learn how to read & use maps with orientating compass or the new no brainer GPS units that have the ability to tell you where you are if you are lost.

If you don’t have a map to see where you are throw it in the lake as it will be useless to you on the islands anyway other than to tell you which way to swim which is not a good idea in cold water areas.

A boat will come by sooner or later if you have a distress flag they can see.

We have rescued a lot of fishermen & locals that ran out of gas over the years.

Be extremely careful with camp fires & white gasoline stoves & lanterns & never ever throw any type of gasoline on wood & light it.

Never put a 6 gallon boat gas tank on top of your battery terminals if you have an electric start motor (don’t laugh we did that one year & tryed to put the fire out with a minnow bucket) we burnt the 40 hp motor up & had to use a 5 hp Mercury on an 18 foot boat the rest of the trip.

Do not keep food in your tent or anything that smells like something wild animals would want to eat or investigate.

Always wash your pots, pans, skillets, silverware & dishes away from the water after every meal & keep them clean when not in use so wild animals will not be able to smell your food from a distance.

Washing dishes in the water kills all the natural organisms & damages the enviroment.

Once wild animals find food in your camp they become domesticated & they will return & do that often.

Raccoons are all over the islands & they are very clever & sneaky & can bite right threw canned goods.

Bears just knock the hell out of everything including you if you get in their way while they are ripping your campsite apart & your tents.

Some campers have put up makeshift electric fences around campsites & take batteries to power them.

If you go out to the Bad River area be careful & think twice about running up & down the rapids with your boats like the locals do.

For one thing they know what they are doing & you may not & that could cost you your life.

Small boat motors do not always have the power necessary to get you up the fast rapids & if you get turned sideways on a bad rapid you could get flipped over quickly & sucked down under.

Rapids are dangerous & make no mistake about that. Especially with 15 hp & below motors & small 12 foot boats.

Never plane your boat in areas you are not familiar with as there are rocks & shoals just below the surface all over The Georgian Bay & even in The Key River.

If you hit one going wide open you will know it because your lower unit will probably be gone when your boat stops & your transom may be broken or gone to.

We have lost both over the years & have seen lower units fly 30 feet in the air after hitting shoals wide open & have seen boats actually end up high & dry on top of shoals 2 or 3 inches under water.

If the boat hits a rock or shoal before your lower unit does  your boat will stop dead but you will keep going & all of your gear will go with you into the brink or onto the shoals or rocks whatever the case may be.

If you are the type that likes to go 70 mile an hour in your bass boat with 200 H.P. motor you should stay home if you like your boat or your life.

The Georgian Bay is not nice to any boat including aluminum yet alone fiberglass unless you always run the buoys out in the big water & tie up at docks only.

They all used wood boats made for rocks for many years & they could take the rocks but everyone got tired of refinishing them every year & most have gone by the wayside.

If you are the type that wants your boat & motor to look & stay like new without any scratches or dents do not take it with you & rent one.

Always think & safety first on Georgian Bay.

What good are you to anyone or anything if you are dead.

Safety on Georgian Bay is no joke & priority number one & especially so if you are taking children with you.

We have seen boats flipped over & helped haul fishermen out of rough cold water before & we have seen fishermen die of hypothermia & drown out past Dead Island in shallow flat bass boats that are not made for big wind whipped waves.

We found all their gear & parts of their boat on the shores of Dead Island.

We have done stupid things & taken many risks ourselves over the years including running a boat over Dallas Rapids wide open while two Canadian Wildlife Officers watched with disbelief & amusement.

We camped right on the rapids that year.

The guy that did it was a professional race car driver & did it on a dare after drinking quite a few beers.

We all pulled the 14 foot boat & 25 hp Evinrude boat that was very fast up the rapids on a rope & he went a quarter mile up stream & then ran wide open over the rapids which were really falls & it was a site to see & hear.

It was a great jump until the lower unit hit a rock on impact but luckily nothing got broken & we all made it home in one piece.

When you are young & dumb anything is possible including stupid things like that twenty five miles out in the wilderness.

The wildlife guys are probably still talking about it & how dumb some American campers & fishermen can really be.

From that time on we refused to take anyone with us that had to have alcohol or beer & simply left them at home.

We used to always put our boats in at Key Marina & every year we would get stuck on the slick wood ramp & the guy would have to come down & pull our truck & boat up with the tractor.

One year he made wisecrack when he saw us getting ready to back down the ramp.

He told us to come & get him at his workshop when we were ready to be pulled out.

Fritts backed the truck down the ramp & put on the emergency brake & left the truck run in neutral gear.

When we started cranking the boat onto the trailer the truck started to slide backwards down the ramp & we both jumped into the water out of the way & the whole truck completely submerged to the roof top with the engine running.

Fritts told me to go get the guy & tractor & I had to tell him what happened & he did everything he could to keep from breaking laughing out loud.

When he got to the ramp with chain & tractor he held out the chain & simply said which one of you guys are going to dive down under water & hook this on the bumper?

The boat was floating & the trailer was submerged & our gear that we had stuffed into the bed of the truck before it slipped down the ramp was floating all over the river.

People were standing around trying not to laugh at us or our situtation which was anything but good.

I dove down under water & got the chain hooked up & he pulled the truck up the ramp with his tractor.