Lac Gouarec in Lanaudière: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Quebec holds Lac Gouarec, in Lanaudière. The bank is 553 metres above sea level. It covers about 4 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It is high ground by Quebec standards. The closest town, Saint-Michel-des-Saints, is 38 km away. Manawan is 44 km and Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm 57 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac Gouarec

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Lanaudière, recorded fish include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Lac Gouarec gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 17°C for July and -16°C for January. The freeze holds for the better part of the year. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early May. Climate averages put the opening at about early May and the closing near mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. The season on Lac Gouarec rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. The nearest alternative is Lac de la Haute Terre, 0.9 km out. Check the current arrangement for Lac Gouarec.