Lac Cloutier Fishing in Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  Look for Lac Cloutier in Mauricie, Quebec. The surface lies 377 metres up. It covers about 5 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Nearest town is Laurentides, 21 km off. La Tuque is 30 km and Sainte-Thècle 47 km. What else is close: Lac Turner at 1.2 km, Lac de l'Ermite just 1.5 km, Lac Rocheleau at 2 km, Lac Bedard just 2.1 km and Lac Desrochers at 2.6 km. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Cloutier

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Reported across Mauricie: northern pike, brook trout and walleye. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Work Lac Cloutier in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 18°C for July and -15°C for January. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near late November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. On Lac Cloutier the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. If the gate is shut, Lac Turner at 1.2 km is the nearest alternative. None of that is settled for Lac Cloutier in what we hold.