Lac des Belles Dames Fishing Guide, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac des Belles Dames is a Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean water, in Quebec. The surface lies 478 metres up. It measures about 25 hectares, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. With about 3.7 km of edge, you can try several depths in one session. The closest town, Leblanc, is 76 km distant. Normandin is 93 km and Albanel 100 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Belles Dames

  We hold no depth figure for this one. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Species logged across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Anyone new to Lac des Belles Dames should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 16°C at the top of summer and -18°C at the bottom of winter. This far north the hard season runs and runs. After early May the shallows warm and the fish move up. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Expect Lac des Belles Dames to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. For a change of water, Lac Brustico is 0.9 km distant. Where Lac des Belles Dames is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.