Is the French River in Algonquin Park???

As for bugs, you have the necessary stuff to make your trip somewhat enjoyable.

I have never travelled the French River but it is on the short list and I have looked into it.
If it was me I would leave the hammock at home and take the tent.
Hopefully someone with first hand knowledge will chime in.

We did the French river a few years ago, keg is right, inland there’s campsites that can handle a hammmock, but in Georgian bay and the shore line, it’s shrubby conifers a lot of the time. Take a tent that is free standing, as there’s no where to secure it, even on campsites. In the bay most sites are on slabs of rock, and it can be very windy for sure and bring a good sleeping pad. Stone is very unforgiving.

Lukatch wrote:

Question on permetherin.....where can i get/buy it in Canada? 

You cannot buy permethrin spray for human use in Canada.  However, if you travel to the US and purchase some there you can legally bring it back to Canada provided it is only a quantity suitable for personal use.   A friend of mine works for the regulatory branch of Health Canada and he thinks it is extremely unlikely permethrin spray will ever be approved for sale in Canada.  
 

Thanks to all who replied and sent PMs with advice.  The bugs turned out to be a non-issue - even though the people at Hartley Bay even said it would be bad.  We also had no real trouble finding hammock-friendly sites.

Some advice though for anyone thinking about doing the Frnech River anytime soon: check on the water levels before you go.  When we arrived, the park had shut down all traffic through the West Channel/Five Fingers area, as well as the Main Outlet at the Dalles rapids.   We were told we would die even if we tried to portage becuase the portages were all flooded.

We made it through to the Bay at the Bass Lake outlet, but another foot of water level rise, and even that portage would've been a waterfall.

The Georgian Bay was great, though the water level was relatively high there too.

I'd heard the Pickerel River was pretty badly burned over in the 2018 Parry Sound fire, but had heard nothing about Fox Creek - in fact I don't think I've ever read anything about anyone ever taking Fox Creek.  It was a neat paddle back that way.  It was burned pretty much from the southern-most Portage (which has been obliterated by the fire, so you have to make do) to about 3/4 of the way up to Pickerel Bay.  The 200m portage at the north end was a *very* steep climb up and down a granite hill - surprisingly difficult.

The French River is a beautiful place, and I'd like to go back sometime in better water levels.  We only saw one other canoe and two other occupied campsites the whole way.  Although, there was some power boat traffic - mostly in the northern end in the cottagey part.  Fox Creek was completely isolated (aside from the beavers and otters).

If anyone has any questions, feel free to let me know!