Lac du Canard Fishing near Labrecque, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac du Canard lies in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. It lies 383 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to about 7 hectares — small enough to read in one session. Labrecque at 59 km is the nearest place to stop. L'Ascension-de-Notre-Seigneur follows at 60 km, then Sainte-Monique at 62 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Canard

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Fish Lac du Canard where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 16°C on average, January about -19°C. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early May. Average temperatures cross freezing around early May in spring and again near mid November in autumn. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. That is the shape of the year on Lac du Canard.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Premier lac Fillion at 0.8 km is the sensible second choice. What applies at Lac du Canard may have changed since it was mapped.