Lac Cibardin in Abitibi-Témiscamingue: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Lac Cibardin is a Quebec water. The water sits 323 metres up. With some 43 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 4.8 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Start from Mattawa, 56 km down the road. It is 211 km to Gatineau, the nearest city. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Lac Cibardin

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Reported across Abitibi-Témiscamingue: northern pike, yellow perch, walleye and white sucker. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Read Lac Cibardin for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -14°C and July at about 18°C, the water has a wide range to work through. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Look for the thaw near late April; the fishing lifts straight after. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Lac Cibardin rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. For a change of water, Lac de la Chouette is 2 km distant. The position on Lac Cibardin is worth confirming on the day.