Fishing Lac Gelinas in Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Gelinas is a Mauricie water, in Quebec. The bank is 303 metres above sea level. With some 15 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The full circuit measures close to 2.5 km on foot. Start from Sainte-Thècle, 25 km down the road. The big place round here is Trois-Rivières, 76 km distant. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Gelinas

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Species logged across Mauricie include northern pike, brook trout, walleye, yellow perch and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Lac Gelinas gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 18°C on average, January about -15°C. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Ice is part of the season here, ending near late April. Open water usually runs from late April until about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Lac Gelinas runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. If the gate is shut, Lac Froid at 4 km is the nearest alternative. Nothing here settles the position at Lac Gelinas for certain.