Fishing Lac Citrouille in Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Citrouille falls in Mauricie, part of Quebec. It stands 379 metres above sea level. It covers about 8 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. The closest town, Mandeville, is 38 km distant. Saint-Élie-de-Caxton lies 41 km off, Saint-Michel-des-Saints another 41 km. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Citrouille

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Open biodiversity records for Mauricie list northern pike, brook trout, walleye, yellow perch and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Lac Citrouille the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 18°C; the cold one sits at -15°C. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. The lid usually goes in late April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. The season between ice runs from about late April to late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. At Lac Citrouille the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. For a change of water, Lac du Balai is 1.5 km distant. Ask locally about Lac Citrouille if anything is unclear.