Lac Ecarte in Mauricie: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Ecarte is one of the Mauricie waters in Quebec. It lies 404 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to roughly 4.95 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. The shoreline runs to about 33 km, far more than one trip can cover. Few waters listed in Mauricie are bigger. Start from Métabetchouan, 44 km down the road. It is 100 km to Saguenay, the nearest city. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Lac Ecarte

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Public occurrence data for Mauricie names northern pike, brook trout and walleye. The county list is broader than any single water. Read Lac Ecarte before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 17°C in July and bottom out at -17°C in January. A short, intense season is the rule this far north. Ice is part of the season here, ending near early May. Ice clears near early May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. It holds true on Lac Ecarte more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Petit lac a la Prele, 1.6 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Lac Ecarte is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.