Fishing at Lac du Vieux Camp, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Within Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, you have Lac du Vieux Camp. The bank is 537 metres above sea level. With some 47 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The margin runs to about 7.5 km in total. On our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list it sits near the top for size. Saint-Honoré at 75 km is the nearest place to stop. Saguenay sits 87 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac du Vieux Camp

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Public occurrence data for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean names northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Lac du Vieux Camp gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 16°C, while January sits near -19°C. Cold dominates the year and the fishing works around it. After mid May the shallows warm and the fish move up. Ice clears near mid May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. On Lac du Vieux Camp that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. If the gate is shut, Lac de la Meduse at 1.7 km is the nearest alternative. Treat access at Lac du Vieux Camp as something to verify.