Lac Bertrand in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean end of Quebec holds Lac Bertrand. The setting is spruce and muskeg on every side. The water covers some 14 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The edge runs 2.2 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Quebec listings. Head to Saint-Félicien, 61 km away, for anything you forgot. Normandin follows at 66 km, then Saint-Prime at 68 km. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Lac Bertrand

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Fish Lac Bertrand to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 16°C; the cold one sits at -18°C. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Once it clears, about early May, the fishing comes on quickly. Averages suggest open water from about early May through to roughly mid November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. The season on Lac Bertrand follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Lac Frontiere, 2.5 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Confirm access to Lac Bertrand locally before you travel.