Fishing Lac Banal in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Banal is one of the Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean listings for Quebec. It stands 739 metres above sea level. Small at around 3 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Most waters listed here for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean are larger. For supplies, Saint-Fulgence is 39 km out. The big place round here is Saguenay, 52 km distant. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac Banal

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Read Lac Banal before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 15°C and January near -18°C. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around mid May. The lid tends to go about mid May and return around early November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. On Lac Banal the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Lac Babiche is 0.3 km off. None of that is settled for Lac Banal in what we hold.