Lac du Heron Fishing Guide, Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  Set in Mauricie, Quebec, this is Lac du Heron. The bank is 401 metres above sea level. Roughly 32 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. There is roughly 4.8 km of shoreline here, which is a short walk end to end. Start from Métabetchouan, 58 km down the road. For a city, Saguenay is 110 km off. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Heron

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. County-wide records name northern pike, brook trout, walleye, yellow perch and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Read Lac du Heron for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -16°C in January to roughly 17°C in July. Winter owns most of the year at this latitude. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Break-up near early May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. Plan any trip to Lac du Heron around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Lac Jos is 1.1 km distant. Where Lac du Heron is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.