Lac des Ecureuils in Lanaudière: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac des Ecureuils lies in Lanaudière, in Quebec. The bank gives way to mixed forest. The nearest place of any size is Saint-Michel-des-Saints, 26 km away. Trois-Rivières is the closest city, 98 km away. Close by you have: Lac des Freres 1.1 km off, Lac Crodeau sits 1.3 km out, Lac des Diatomees 1.7 km off, Lac Aubry sits 2.5 km out and Lac du Thuya 2.9 km off. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Ecureuils

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. County-wide records name pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, rock bass and brook trout. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Lac des Ecureuils fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 17°C, while January sits near -15°C. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The water is typically free of ice between early May and late November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Lac des Ecureuils runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. The nearest alternative is Lac des Freres, 1.1 km out. None of that is settled for Lac des Ecureuils in what we hold.