Fishing Lac Hemp in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec

• Overview

  Look for Lac Hemp in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec. The country round it is northern bush from end to end. With some 14 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 1.9 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Some 123 km away sits Ferme-Neuve, the nearest settlement. Gatineau sits 255 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Hemp

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Abitibi-Témiscamingue records list northern pike, yellow perch, walleye, white sucker and brown bullhead among the fish reported. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. Work Lac Hemp in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -18°C in January up to 16°C in July. Winter runs most of the calendar, and everything worth doing happens in the gap. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Expect the water usable from around early May until roughly mid November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Lac Hemp runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Failing this one, try Lac Sisal, 1.3 km away. Treat Lac Hemp as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.