Lac Canard in Mauricie: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Canard is one of the Mauricie waters in Quebec. It sits 32 km in from the sea. At 3 hectares it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. It is a small entry by Mauricie standards. Saint-Élie-de-Caxton sits 14 km from the bank. The big place round here is Trois-Rivières, 48 km distant. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Canard

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Species logged across Mauricie include northern pike, brook trout and walleye. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. At Lac Canard the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 19°C and January at -14°C. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Lac Canard runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Lac a la Truite is 0.5 km off. Where Lac Canard is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.