Lac des Journalistes Fishing Guide, Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  The Laurentides entry here is Lac des Journalistes, in Quebec. Country round the bank runs to lake country bush. This is sizeable water at about 1.25 sq km, and a boat opens up most of it. Shoreline length is close to 7.0 km, and each section fishes a little differently. It is among the larger waters listed here for Laurentides. Ferme-Neuve lies 2 km from the water. Beyond it, Mont-Laurier at 19 km and Saint-Boniface at 46 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Journalistes

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Survey and observation records for Laurentides include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, brook trout and rock bass. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Lac des Journalistes responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 18°C and January near -15°C. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Lac des Journalistes runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Should this one be busy, Lac Lafontaine is 1.7 km off. Where Lac des Journalistes is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.