Lac Francoise in Abitibi-Témiscamingue: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Lac Francoise is a Quebec water. The bank gives way to northern bush. At about 56 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Roughly 3.3 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Size puts it in the front rank of our Abitibi-Témiscamingue list. The closest town, Leblanc, is 99 km distant. The nearest city of size is Gatineau, 294 km away. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac Francoise

  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. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Fish documented in Abitibi-Témiscamingue include northern pike, yellow perch and walleye. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. On Lac Francoise the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -18°C and July at about 16°C, the water has a wide range to work through. The fishing year opens late and shuts early. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early May. Climate figures give an open season running early May to mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. It holds true on Lac Francoise more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Petit lac Colombe at 0.7 km is the sensible second choice. Check the position at Lac Francoise before loading the car.