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

• Overview

  Lac Bellemare falls in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, part of Quebec. Land around it is taiga. It measures some 1.69 sq km, and wind has room to build across it. Around 8.2 km of bank, which is a long day on foot. It is among the larger waters listed here for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean. Some 43 km away sits Pont Rouge, the nearest settlement. Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc is 45 km and Dolbeau-Mistassini 46 km. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Bellemare

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Lac Bellemare the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 17°C in July and bottoms out near -19°C in January. Water stays cold even at the height of the year. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from early May. Averages place the thaw at early May and the freeze at mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Lac Bellemare fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Lac Milot, 3.1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position at Lac Bellemare before loading the car.