Lac Brunet Fishing near Mont-Laurier, Quebec

• Overview

  Set in Laurentides, Quebec, this is Lac Brunet. Rolling bush runs right down to the water. It covers about 3 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It is a small entry by Laurentides standards. The nearest place of any size is Mont-Laurier, 25 km away. The big place round here is Orléans, 118 km distant. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Lac Brunet

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Laurentides records list pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch among the fish reported. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. At Lac Brunet the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 18°C; the cold one sits at -15°C. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about late November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. It sets the rhythm of the year at Lac Brunet.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. If the gate is shut, Grand lac a l'Ours at 2 km is the nearest alternative. Where Lac Brunet is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.