Fishing at Lac de la Moelle, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Within Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, you have Lac de la Moelle. Taiga runs right down to the water. Small at around 8 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Supplies mean a trip to Saint-Prime, 34 km off. Further out sit Saint-Félicien (35 km) and Roberval (35 km). It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Lac de la Moelle

  Open data we checked carries no depth for this water. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Reported across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean: northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Lac de la Moelle the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 16°C; the cold one sits at -18°C. The season is measured in weeks rather than months. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. Break-up sits around early May on average, with the water closing again about mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Plan around that when you fish Lac de la Moelle.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Lac an Ernest, 0.7 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Confirm access to Lac de la Moelle locally before you travel.