Lac Decoupe Fishing Guide, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Set in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, this is Lac Decoupe. Beyond the shoreline you have spruce and muskeg. The water covers some 16 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The bank runs about 2.6 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Nearest place of any size is Normandin, 81 km away. For a city, Saguenay is 198 km off. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Decoupe

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean records list northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish among the fish reported. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. At Lac Decoupe the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -19°C and July at about 16°C, the water has a wide range to work through. The season is measured in weeks rather than months. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from early May. Ice clears near early May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. The season on Lac Decoupe rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. The map shows no ramp or car park nearby, so this is a walk-in water. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Lac Arie is 0.8 km distant. Confirm before you fish Lac Decoupe.