Lac du Marcheur in Lanaudière: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Lac du Marcheur in Lanaudière, Quebec. The ground around here is mixed forest. Around 32 hectares of surface means several distinct areas to work. Shoreline comes to about 3.0 km, small enough to learn in a day. Size puts it in the front rank of our Lanaudière list. Nearest town is Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, 16 km off. Chertsey is 17 km away, with Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm at 21 km. The boundary is close enough to be worth checking before you fish.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Marcheur

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Lanaudière records list pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Lac du Marcheur the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 18°C in July and bottom out at -14°C in January. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about late November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Lac du Marcheur runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Lac Sicotte is 1.7 km off. Check the position on Lac du Marcheur before loading the car.