Fishing Lac Hamelet in Outaouais, Quebec

• Overview

  Outaouais in Quebec is where Lac Hamelet sits. Beyond the shoreline you have pine and birch. It covers about 2 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It is a small entry by Outaouais standards. 93 km away sits Saint-Boniface, the nearest town. Gatineau sits 203 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac Hamelet

  Depth figures are not published for this one. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Species logged across Outaouais include pumpkinseed, yellow perch, smallmouth bass and rainbow smelt. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. On Lac Hamelet the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 17°C; the cold one sits at -17°C. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. Average temperatures cross freezing around early May in spring and again near late November in autumn. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Plan around that when you fish Lac Hamelet.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. A campsite is mapped about 950 m away, which makes an early start easier. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Should this one be busy, Lac Arfons is 0.5 km off. What applies at Lac Hamelet may have changed since it was mapped.