Lac Bernard in Lanaudière: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Lac Bernard in Lanaudière, Quebec. The surface lies 298 metres up. At 2 hectares it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Most waters listed here for Lanaudière are larger. For supplies, Saint-Michel-des-Saints is 46 km out. Then Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, 63 km, and Mandeville, 64 km. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Lac Bernard

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Lanaudière cover pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Fish Lac Bernard where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 17°C at the top of summer and -15°C at the bottom of winter. Hard water is a season in its own right here. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Lac Bernard runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Failing this one, try Lac Fon-Fon, 0.7 km away. Confirm access to Lac Bernard locally before you travel.