Lac en Zigzag, Quebec: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Lac en Zigzag lies in Côte-Nord, Quebec. It stands 602 metres above sea level. With some 16 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The full circuit measures close to 3.1 km on foot. It is high ground by Quebec standards. Forestville lies 105 km from the water. After that come Saint-Honoré at 106 km and Saint-Fulgence at 107 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac en Zigzag

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Côte-Nord records list logperch among the fish reported. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Lac en Zigzag gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 15°C at the top of summer and -19°C at the bottom of winter. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Ice-out usually falls in mid May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages place the thaw at mid May and the freeze at early November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. That shapes the year on Lac en Zigzag.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the perch, a small jig tipped with worm, dropped along the edges, is hard to beat. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Lac Gunther is 1.1 km distant. Where Lac en Zigzag is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.