Lac a Donoghue Fishing near Shawville, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac a Donoghue stands in Outaouais, Quebec. The setting is pine and birch on every side. Ground here is low by Quebec standards. The closest town, Shawville, is 13 km away. Further out sit Fort-Coulonge (28 km) and Arnprior (32 km). Also on the doorstep: Lac a Howard a touch under 0.9 km, Lac a Daly 1.2 km away, Lac a Lang a touch under 2.7 km, Lac McCord 3 km away and Lac Toad a touch under 3.2 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Lac a Donoghue

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for Outaouais list pumpkinseed, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, rainbow smelt and Iowa darter. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. The near bank of Lac a Donoghue is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 19°C; the cold one sits at -13°C. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. The lid tends to go about late April and return around early December. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. It holds true on Lac a Donoghue more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Lac a Howard at 0.9 km is the sensible second choice. Check the current arrangement for Lac a Donoghue.