Smallies....French Creek vs Allegheny

Which water do you guys think is best for smallies for size and numbers ?

I usually travel at least 2 1/2 hours with my canoe to get to the Allegheny. If you could go anywhere on the French or Allegheny with a canoe for smallies, where would you pick ?

The Allegheny has more and larger fish but you have to cover a larger waterway to find them.
 
French Creek has good numbers but not the size of Allegheny fish. Since French is smaller fish may be easier to locate.
 
Just my opinion and experience on both waterways of course.

No smallies in French Creek.  When Obama was elected they all packed up and move downstream to the big waters - the Allegheny!   j/k
 
 
Either waterway is fine so do both if you have time. French Creek can be fickle and a lot depends on the previous year(s) spawn.  Some years are great, some not so good.
 
I have a place on the creek but really love the river so if I have a few hours to fish I float or wade the creek, if I have all day I float the river.  I usually catch more fish on the creek but larger on the river. 
 
fyi, the creek can sometimes get crowded with non-fishing beer drinking floaters and kids on nice weekends and that can distrub your catch so why not float both on the same trip, if your transportation can be arranged. 
 
You could put in at Sugarcreek (or Utica i f you want a longer day) and go down to Fishermans Cove or even further if you take two days. 
 
Much depends on your time and your transportation.
 
 
 

I don't remember a trip in the last 3 years on the Allegheny that we haven't boated smallies better than 19". I like fishing for the bigger fish and we usually get fish in the 20"s on the Allegheny. I like numbers but size is the draw in our quest. I'm sure there are some 6lb + smallies on the French, isn't there ?

I'd love to see a 6# fish from either waterway. With that size your talking Lake Erie like fish. Actually, last years numbers of 3-4 pound fish was high, if we get good river conditions through the spring and summer for another year more and more of 5# plus fish may be seen.
The largest I have seen was a 5# (weighed on a certified scale)a few years ago. I caught a 4.77 (also weighed) at a tournament, both of those fish came from up North. The largest bass I've seen come out of the river was a largemouth caught down near Emlenton, it weighed 9.5 lbs. I have a polorid pic of that fish, wish I could post it, it was an absolute toad.

Back to original topic, I agree with kayak99. I've caught my fair share of really nice fish on French but the Allegheny holds far more of those nicer fish.
 
On another note, the earliest I've had success with large fish was April 9th a few years ago. I have an area on the Allegheny where the fish will move up from wintering depths (18-22 feet) and hold at about 10-14 feet. It's cool to catch them right after they move up, they still have little black leeches attached to their bellies from sitting tight to the bottom.
 
We're not too far off from that period! If water conditions stay fairly good and the river does not blow out from rain, I'll be giving it a go soon!

That's the map we use. That's one of the best river maps I've seen online for any river. Thanks for the info guys, we'll put it to some good use.  We weighed 1 over 5lb. out of the Allegheny 2 years ago, my wife caught it.
We throw some huge topwaters and have had some dandies on there.