Upper French vs lower French river

So I’ve fished the lower French for years seems as though the walleye fishing has went down hill what is everyone’s opinion in the upper French? I fished nippissing through the ice this year and walleye fishing was amazing, I would assume that would translate to very good spring fishing in the upper French. Looking at staying at chaudiere lodge. We will do some bass/ pike fishing as well. It appears the bass fishing is just as good as the lower, do the pike have any size compared to the lower we catch tons of small pike in the lower wondering what to expect?

My brother & I have fished both the upper and lower French river for about 15 yrs. We back-country camped on the Lower French and stayed at Riverview cottages on the Upper French River.
I believe you are correct in saying the lower French river has had a decline in Walleye catches, although you still certainly do catch them.
We have found the fishing for Walleye, Bass and Pike generally, better in the upper French River. Muskie are present in both areas, but of course, not caught with much frequency. I did get one Muskie in the Upper French that was memorable.(hopefully the pic did attach)
IMHO, if Walleye are your target fish, I would go to the upper French River.
Good luck in whatever place you choose.

Have to agree with Fozzy47.
My entire family and I have fished every square inch of the French from 1971 up to today. All the way from the Bad River channel emptying out into Georgian Bay to the mouth of the French on Nipissing, including the main lake proper.
We’ve caught thousands of pickerel and hundreds of bass, pike and trophy muskie over all those years.
If ‘I’ had to choose one spot for both pickerel and muskie, today…I’d select the Upper French and L. Nipissing, hands down. Although, that wouldn’t have always been my choice even as recently as 2010-13 when the pickerel stocks in Nipissing were in decline and under stress (I lived on Nipissing’s South Bay over that period).
The pickerel population in Nip, IMO, has bounced back today, almost as strong as it likely was in 50’s/60’s and certainly the 1970’s…while probably under more sustained recreational fishing pressure now (I’m ignoring the commercial netting issue entirely).
For bass and pike, personally, I’d prefer to fish Georgian Bay first and foremost. The pike are huge and readily abundant out on the open waters of the Bay, JMO.
But, you certainly can’t go wrong with the Upper French/Nipissing right at the moment.
Best of luck with your selection and good fishing.

Lower French for a Musky trip.

Wolseley bay area (upper French) is good for a Walley/pike trip.

I knew the guy who ran Chaudiere lodge before the new owners bought it, $$$ but a really nice place to stay.

Musky from the lower French:

We travel to the Upper French from the US every spring. The bass and muskie fishing is phenomenal. You'll also catch alot of pike, but they are generally small (30" and under). I've caught a few big ones, but I wouldn't say they are plentiful. Can't comment on walleyes...we don't mess with them.

That’s for the info!! I was leaning towards the upper since I’ve haven’t been there yet, you guys made my decision eaisier. I’ve always done well in the lower but think it’s time to check some new places out. One other question I forgot to ask. To the guys who have fished both, is the upper French marked better was considering brining my own boat but was worried of all the hazards I don’t like brining my boat to the lower with all the rock?. It seems the upper is traveled more with all the lodges. How well is th e upper marked?

This are some nice fish!! I’ll be staying at chaudiere it’s looking like.

Some stuff is marked, but certainly not all of it, especially if the water is down a bit. Proceed with caution, haha.

We always stay at Lunge Lodge. The boats at Chaudier don’t have trolling motors which is a deal breaker.

As a kid we always stayed on the lower and years later with my kids we returned for a few years. We fished from the recollette falls down to flowerpot bay sort of area and I can say that the fishing really declined even in the few times we went back. Although I don’t have much experience it sounds like the upper is your best bet based on what everyone’s saying. Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents on the lower.

I agree with with you at least for walleye. Now for bass fishing I will say the lower has taken off over the years, largemouth especiall!!

Yes well I will admit we do have a couple of decent bass spots! But it seems as though we were really limited to the “spots” to have some decent action.