Fishing at Lac Duerne, Nord-du-Québec, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Duerne is one of the Nord-du-Québec listings for Quebec. Country round the bank runs to boreal forest. It covers about 6 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Nord-du-Québec list. Some 39 km away sits Chibougamau, the nearest settlement. It is 268 km to Saguenay, the nearest city. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Lac Duerne

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Public occurrence data for Nord-du-Québec names Arctic charr, brook trout, lake trout, lake whitefish and cisco. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Read Lac Duerne for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -19°C and July at about 16°C, the water has a wide range to work through. Winter owns most of the year at this latitude. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from early May. Ice clears near early May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. At Lac Duerne the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Failing this one, try Lac Garos, 0.6 km away. For Lac Duerne in particular, ask before you travel.