Lac Buck in Laurentides: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Lac Buck in the Laurentides part of Quebec. It sits at 273 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to about 6 hectares — small enough to read in one session. Nearest place of any size is L'Orignal, 19 km away. Orléans sits 67 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. You are close to a county edge here; who manages the access can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Lac Buck

  Depth figures are not published for this one. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Laurentides records list pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and brook trout among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Work Lac Buck in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 19°C on average, January about -13°C. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Open water usually runs from late April until about early December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Lac Buck fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. There is a pier recorded roughly 1.5 km away. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Failing this one, try Lac Bent, 1.2 km away. What applies at Lac Buck may have changed since it was mapped.