Fishing at Lac de Niort, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec

• Overview

  Quebec holds Lac de Niort, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. It lies 365 metres above sea level. It measures some 2.56 sq km, and wind has room to build across it. The outline measures near 15 km, so local knowledge counts. It ranks high for size among our Abitibi-Témiscamingue listings. The nearest place of any size is Val-d'Or, 90 km away. The nearest city of size is Greater Sudbury, 246 km away. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac de Niort

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Abitibi-Témiscamingue records list northern pike, yellow perch, walleye and white sucker among the fish reported. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. On Lac de Niort the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -16°C and July at about 17°C, the water has a wide range to work through. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Winter locks it down, and late April brings it back. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near late November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Anyone fishing Lac de Niort regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Failing this one, try Lac Lapis, 1.5 km away. Ask locally about Lac de Niort if anything is unclear.