Lac Ben Fishing near Baie-Comeau, Quebec

• Overview

  In Quebec, Lac Ben falls inside Côte-Nord. Northern bush runs right down to the water. This is a pocket water of some 6 hectares, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Our Côte-Nord list holds plenty of bigger water. Baie-Comeau is the closest town at 48 km. Saguenay is the closest city, 269 km away. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Lac Ben

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Across Côte-Nord, recorded fish include logperch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The shape of Lac Ben rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 15°C; the cold one sits at -17°C. The freeze holds for the better part of the year. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. On average, early May opens the water and mid November closes it again. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. On Lac Ben the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. The map shows no ramp or car park nearby, so this is a walk-in water. For the perch, a small jig tipped with worm, dropped along the edges, is hard to beat. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Lac Cretons sits 0.7 km off and takes the overflow. For Lac Ben, the notice at the access point is the final word.