Lac Clef in Mauricie: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Clef is one of the Mauricie listings for Quebec. The setting is boreal forest on every side. At roughly 6 hectares, the whole thing is within casting reach of a single walk. Start from Weymontachie, 40 km down the road. Saguenay is the closest city, 185 km away. Not far off: Lac du Loup at about 0.7 km, Lac Savane out at 0.7 km, Lac Ti-Gars at about 0.9 km, Lac Inga out at 1.4 km and Lac Samba at about 1.5 km. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Clef

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Mauricie names northern pike, brook trout, walleye and yellow perch. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. At Lac Clef the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 16°C and January reads -18°C. Water stays cold even at the height of the year. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early May. Break-up near early May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Time your trip to Lac Clef by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. 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. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Should this one be busy, Lac du Loup is 0.7 km off. Check the position on Lac Clef before loading the car.