Lac des Copeaux Fishing in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  The Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean entry here is Lac des Copeaux, in Quebec. The setting is taiga on every side. It covers about 2 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list. Pont Rouge is the closest place, 78 km off. After that come Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc at 79 km and Sainte-Monique at 83 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Copeaux

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Public occurrence data for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean names northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Lac des Copeaux that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 16°C at the top of summer and -19°C at the bottom of winter. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about mid November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Lac des Copeaux runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Should this one be busy, Lac de la Sciure is 0.2 km off. The position on Lac des Copeaux is worth confirming on the day.