Lac Chum Fishing Guide, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Chum is an Abitibi-Témiscamingue water, in Quebec. The bank is 414 metres above sea level. It covers about 4 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It is a small entry by Abitibi-Témiscamingue standards. The closest town, Leblanc, is 119 km distant. It is 254 km to Gatineau, the nearest city. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac Chum

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Fish documented in Abitibi-Témiscamingue include northern pike, yellow perch, walleye, white sucker and brown bullhead. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. At Lac Chum the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 16°C in July and bottom out at -18°C in January. Winter runs most of the calendar, and everything worth doing happens in the gap. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Average temperatures cross freezing around early May in spring and again near mid November in autumn. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. On Lac Chum that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. The nearest alternative is Lac de la Martre, 1.5 km out. Signs at Lac Chum carry more weight than any list.