Lac Desjardins Fishing in Lanaudière, Quebec

• Overview

  Lanaudière, Quebec, is where Lac Desjardins sits. Around the bank it is spruce and muskeg. At 6 hectares it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Start from Manawan, 36 km down the road. After that come Rivière-Rouge at 62 km and Saint-Michel-des-Saints at 64 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac Desjardins

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Records held for Lanaudière cover pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and rock bass. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. On Lac Desjardins a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 17°C on average, January about -16°C. This is a two-season water: locked, then wide open. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early May. The lid tends to go about early May and return around mid November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Lac Desjardins fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Fishing from a pier is possible 1.5 km away. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Lac Saint-Laurent sits 0.5 km off and takes the overflow. For Lac Desjardins, the notice at the access point is the final word.