Fishing Lac Head in Outaouais, Quebec

• Overview

  Set in Outaouais, Quebec, this is Lac Head. This is lake country bush country. The water covers some 12 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. A shoreline of some 2.4 km keeps the choices simple. The nearest town is Fort-Coulonge, 38 km away. Saint-Raphaël follows at 44 km, then Maniwaki at 52 km. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Head

  We hold no depth figure for this one. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Public occurrence data for Outaouais names pumpkinseed, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, rainbow smelt and Iowa darter. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. At Lac Head the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 18°C and January reads -14°C. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Ice is part of the season here, ending near late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Anyone fishing Lac Head regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. You can camp about 550 m away, going by the mapping. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Lac Hogan at 2.7 km is the sensible second choice. Where Lac Head is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.