If you're looking for beauty, silence, solitude, and some wonderful fishing, you need to consider the French River in northern Ontario. My family has been vacationing on the French River for the better part of fifty years. We're currently on our fourth generation, so it could be argued that were a bit biased. But setting all bias aside, the French River is remarkable in its ability to straighten a persons head out. Oh, and the fishing's not too bad either.

The French River is home to such delectable treats as walleye, catfish, and small and largemouth bass. The river is also home to northern pike and muskie, which always make for a good time. And for the kids the river boasts enough rock bass and perch to keep a five year old busy until their bored with catching them. For the adventurous angler there are even sturgeon present. The French river is well known for it's fishing among the locals, but is largely unknown to people outside of Canada. There is good fishing from the spring through the fall, with the fall being my personal favorite. There are many camps along the river that have guides for hire, which is a great idea if you're going to the river for the first time. The river is full of barely noticeable rocks, which will ruin any trip if you run over one. Fixing a ruined lower unit on a boat is an expensive proposition.

The French is a wonderful river to canoe and camp along, and many people do just that. The river is full of isolated islands, so getting privacy is not a problem. In fact some of the lodges in the area cater exclusively to people using canoes. The area is very wild, so spotting such animals as deer, moose, foxes, and bear is a fairly common occurrence.

The bottom line is that if you like silence and solitude mixed with fish the French River is a destination worth looking into. Be careful though, because once you visit the French River, you may never want to go anywhere else to "get away from it all". That's precisely what has happened to me.