Fishing at Lac de la Hauteur, Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  In Quebec, Lac de la Hauteur belongs to Mauricie. This is northern bush ground. Roughly 50 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Shoreline length is close to 5.2 km, and each section fishes a little differently. Size puts it in the front rank of our Mauricie list. Some 51 km away sits La Tuque, the nearest settlement. Laurentides is 67 km away, with Métabetchouan at 73 km. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac de la Hauteur

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Mauricie list northern pike, brook trout and walleye. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. At Lac de la Hauteur the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 17°C in July and bottom out at -16°C in January. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early May. Break-up near early May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. That is the shape of the year on Lac de la Hauteur.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Lac Demi-Lune, 1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the current arrangement for Lac de la Hauteur.