Lac Gagnon Fishing in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Gagnon sits within Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean in Quebec. The bank is 403 metres above sea level. With some 19 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Shoreline comes to about 4.2 km, small enough to learn in a day. Pont Rouge lies 80 km from the water. Then Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, 81 km, and Sainte-Monique, 86 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Lac Gagnon

  Depth figures are not published for this one. 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. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Lac Gagnon responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 16°C and January reads -19°C. The ice season is long here and the open one short. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early May. Open water usually runs from early May until about mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Lac Gagnon fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Failing this one, try Lac de la Transmission, 0.3 km away. The position on Lac Gagnon is worth confirming on the day.