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

• Overview

  Out in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, sits Lac Cotts. It stands 545 metres above sea level. It covers about 7 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Compared with other Quebec water on our list, it sits high. Ferme-Neuve lies 113 km from the water. Then Saint-Boniface, 118 km, and Senneterre, 119 km. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Lac Cotts

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name northern pike, yellow perch, walleye and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Lac Cotts the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 16°C; the cold one sits at -18°C. The window is narrow, and fish feed hard while it lasts. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. From about early May to around mid November, expect open water on the long-run figures. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. Plan any trip to Lac Cotts around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Lac Brind, 1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing on Lac Cotts should be assumed from this page alone.