Lac des Bois, Quebec: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Lac des Bois is one of the Laurentides waters in Quebec. The bank is 485 metres above sea level. This is a pocket water of some 4 hectares, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. The nearest place of any size is Rivière-Rouge, 30 km away. Labelle lies 33 km off, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm another 34 km. Other water nearby: Lac Salaise 1.9 km, 2 km out stands Lac Clarens, Lac Houdet 2.4 km, 2.5 km out stands Lac Ambert and Lac Jamet 2.5 km. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Bois

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across Laurentides, recorded fish include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and brook trout. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Lac des Bois gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -15°C to 17°C. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly late April. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at late November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Lac des Bois fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Should this one be busy, Lac Salaise is 1.9 km off. The position on Lac des Bois is worth confirming on the day.