Lac du Bouleau Fishing near Saint-Raphaël, Quebec

• Overview

  In Quebec, Lac du Bouleau falls inside Outaouais. The surface lies 276 metres up. Small at around 8 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Saint-Raphaël is the closest place, 34 km off. Gatineau sits 84 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Neighbouring water: Lac Green a shade over 0.8 km, Lac Telfer sits 1.1 km out, Lac a The a shade over 1.5 km, Lac a Cafe sits 1.7 km out and Lac Creux a shade over 2 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Bouleau

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Across Outaouais, recorded fish include pumpkinseed, yellow perch, smallmouth bass and rainbow smelt. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Work Lac du Bouleau in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 18°C and January about -14°C. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. The lid tends to go about late April and return around late November. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. That is the shape of the year on Lac du Bouleau.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. The nearest alternative is Lac Green, 0.8 km out. For Lac du Bouleau, the notice at the access point is the final word.