Lac Borcoman Fishing in Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  Out in Laurentides, Quebec, sits Lac Borcoman. It sits in mixed forest country. At about 55 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. With about 4.0 km of edge, you can try several depths in one session. Few waters listed in Laurentides are bigger. Head to Ferme-Neuve, 14 km away, for anything you forgot. After that come Mont-Laurier at 26 km and Saint-Boniface at 41 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac Borcoman

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Reported across Laurentides: pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, brook trout and rock bass. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. At Lac Borcoman the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 18°C and January near -15°C. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. At Lac Borcoman the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Lac Scotchman, 0.7 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Rules at Lac Borcoman are worth checking on the day.