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

• Overview

  Lac du Plantoir lies in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, in Quebec. It lies 478 metres above sea level. It covers about 3 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list. 50 km away sits Pont Rouge, the nearest town. Saguenay sits 99 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Plantoir

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Fish documented in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Treat Lac du Plantoir as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 16°C and January reads -19°C. The year here is short and sharp: a long lid, then a burst of open water. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate averages put the opening at about early May and the closing near mid November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Lac du Plantoir fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Should this one be busy, Lac du Nuage is 0.7 km off. Rules at Lac du Plantoir are worth checking on the day.