Lac des Paquette Fishing Guide, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac des Paquette is listed under Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. The country round it is boreal forest from end to end. At some 1.54 sq km it is far too large to cover on foot in a day. You are looking at roughly 9.6 km of shoreline, with plenty of water between access points. Size puts it in the front rank of our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list. The closest town, Albanel, is 57 km distant. Then Dolbeau-Mistassini, 60 km, and Normandin, 62 km. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Paquette

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Records held for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean cover northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. The near bank of Lac des Paquette is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 16°C; the cold one sits at -20°C. The ice season is long here and the open one short. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The open-water window runs from around early May to about mid November in an average year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Plan any trip to Lac des Paquette around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Lac Endormi at 0.6 km is the sensible second choice. Check the current arrangement for Lac des Paquette.