Lac des Pins in Laurentides: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac des Pins lies in Laurentides, Quebec. Beyond the shoreline you have pine and birch. This is a pocket water of some 7 hectares, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. You are 25 km from Saint-Adolphe-d'Howard. Then Brownsburg-Chatham, 26 km, and L'Orignal, 28 km. Others close at hand: Lac Johnson 0.8 km off, Lac Hulm a touch under 1.6 km, Lac Marshall 2 km off, Lac Besancon a touch under 2.6 km and Lac aux Castors 2.8 km off. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Lac des Pins

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Fish documented in Laurentides include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. At Lac des Pins light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs -13°C to 19°C. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at early December. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Lac des Pins.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Lac Johnson, 0.8 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Lac des Pins is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.