Fishing Lac du Cinquante in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac du Cinquante is set in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. Elevation runs to 216 metres. Surface area runs to about 4 hectares — small enough to read in one session. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Quebec listings. Some 23 km away sits Pont Rouge, the nearest settlement. The big place round here is Saguenay, 82 km distant. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Cinquante

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, recorded fish include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. The shape of Lac du Cinquante rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 17°C and January near -19°C. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from early May. Break-up near early May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. It sets the rhythm of the year at Lac du Cinquante.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Lac Travers at 0.7 km is the sensible second choice. What applies at Lac du Cinquante may have changed since it was mapped.