Lac Carufel in Mauricie: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Carufel is set in Mauricie, Quebec. The country here is rolling bush. It covers about 2 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Most waters listed here for Mauricie are larger. For a base, La Tuque sits 38 km out. Further out sit Weymontachie (63 km) and Laurentides (86 km). It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Lac Carufel

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Reported across Mauricie: northern pike, brook trout and walleye. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. The shape of Lac Carufel rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -16°C in January to roughly 17°C in July. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Once it clears, about late April, the fishing comes on quickly. The lid tends to go about late April and return around mid November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Lac Carufel runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Lac Orignal, 1.8 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Ask locally about Lac Carufel if anything is unclear.