Lac des Baies in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Within Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, you have Lac des Baies. The country here is spruce and muskeg. The water covers some 18 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. About 2.4 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Compared with other Quebec water on our list, it sits high. Start from Saint-Fulgence, 58 km down the road. For a city, Saguenay is 71 km off. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Baies

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Lac des Baies the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 15°C on average, January about -19°C. Winter runs most of the calendar, and everything worth doing happens in the gap. Ice is part of the season here, ending near mid May. Open water usually runs from mid May until about early November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Lac des Baies runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Lac Camille at 1.4 km is the sensible second choice. Confirm access to Lac des Baies locally before you travel.