Lac du Castor Fishing near Deep River, Quebec

• Overview

  Set in Outaouais, Quebec, this is Lac du Castor. The country here is rolling bush. The water measures roughly 4 hectares, so nothing here is far from anything else. Deep River at 26 km is the nearest place to stop. For a city, Gatineau is 181 km off. Near neighbours: Lac Lernaut at 1 km, Lac Ferris some 1.2 km off, Lac du Pin Rouge at 1.5 km, Lac Vaseux some 2.5 km off and Petit lac Pinder at 2.8 km. Being near a boundary, it pays to know which side you are fishing.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Castor

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name pumpkinseed, yellow perch, smallmouth bass and rainbow smelt. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Fish Lac du Castor where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -14°C to 18°C. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around late April. Climate averages put the opening at about late April and the closing near late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. The season on Lac du Castor rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. The nearest alternative is Lac Lernaut, 1 km out. Rules at Lac du Castor are worth checking on the day.