Lac Bishop in Abitibi-Témiscamingue: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Bishop lies within the bounds of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec. The country here is spruce and muskeg. The water covers some 82 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The bank runs about 4.9 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. On our Abitibi-Témiscamingue list it sits near the top for size. For a base, Senneterre sits 69 km out. Val-d'Or lies 90 km off, Barraute another 94 km. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Lac Bishop

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Abitibi-Témiscamingue records list northern pike, yellow perch, walleye, white sucker and brown bullhead among the fish reported. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Lac Bishop gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 17°C; by January the average is down near -18°C. Winter owns most of the year at this latitude. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. The open-water window runs from around early May to about mid November in an average year. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. It sets the rhythm of the year at Lac Bishop.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Lac en Boucle, 1.5 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Signs at Lac Bishop carry more weight than any list.