Lac de l'Araignee near Mandeville: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  The Lanaudière entry here is Lac de l'Araignee, in Quebec. Beyond the shoreline you have pine and birch. It runs to roughly 11 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Bank access stretches around 1.8 km in total. The town to know is Mandeville, 26 km out. The big place round here is Terrebonne, 86 km distant. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac de l'Araignee

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Fish documented in Lanaudière include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. On Lac de l'Araignee the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 17°C at the top of summer and -15°C at the bottom of winter. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. The season on Lac de l'Araignee rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Some banks are open only from a marked point. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Petit lac de l'Araignee, 0.5 km away. Check the position at Lac de l'Araignee before loading the car.