Lac du Cheval in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac du Cheval is listed under Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. What surrounds it is boreal forest. The water measures roughly 5 hectares, so nothing here is far from anything else. Compared with other Quebec water on our list, it sits high. Saint-Fulgence sits 42 km from here and is the nearest stop. Saguenay sits 53 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Cheval

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, recorded fish include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Read Lac du Cheval for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 15°C and January near -19°C. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly mid May. Ice usually gives way near mid May, and forms again about early November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Lac du Cheval runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. There is a campsite 150 m from the water. Public toilets are recorded roughly 230 m off. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Lac Baril sits 0.4 km off and takes the overflow. Check the current arrangement for Lac du Cheval.