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

• Overview

  Lac du Depart is a Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean water, Quebec side. Beyond the shoreline you have spruce and muskeg. It sits higher than most water we list in Quebec. Start from Saint-Fulgence, 44 km down the road. It is 54 km to Saguenay, the nearest city. Others close at hand: Lac Huppe 0.9 km away, Lac Aubry near enough 1.2 km, Lac Croche 1.5 km away, Lac du Coin near enough 1.6 km and Lac Courbe 1.8 km away. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Depart

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Lac du Depart the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -19°C and July at about 15°C, the water has a wide range to work through. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. Ice-out usually falls in mid May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages place the thaw at mid May and the freeze at early November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. On Lac du Depart the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. Overnight stays are possible 1.2 km away. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Lac Huppe at 0.9 km is the sensible second choice. None of that is settled for Lac du Depart in what we hold.