Lac du Retour Fishing in Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac du Retour is one of the Mauricie listings for Quebec. This is northern bush country. The water covers around 1.54 sq km, which puts most of it out of reach from the bank. With 16 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. On our Mauricie list it sits near the top for size. Nearest place of any size is Leblanc, 26 km away. The big place round here is Trois-Rivières, 230 km distant. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Retour

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Across Mauricie, recorded fish include northern pike, brook trout, walleye, yellow perch and white sucker. The county list is broader than any single water. Lac du Retour gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 16°C and January at -17°C. This is a two-season water: locked, then wide open. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. Averages suggest open water from about early May through to roughly mid November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. That is the shape of the year on Lac du Retour.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. For a change of water, Lac Betty is 1.3 km distant. Check the position at Lac du Retour before loading the car.