Lac Hilarion in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Hilarion is one of the Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean listings for Quebec. Elevation runs to 388 metres. This is sizeable water at about 1.13 sq km, and a boat opens up most of it. The edge covers about 8.3 km, enough to hold several distinct areas. It is among the larger waters listed here for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean. Supplies mean a trip to Chibougamau, 73 km off. Chapais is 94 km and Normandin 107 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac Hilarion

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Lac Hilarion that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -19°C to 16°C. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. At Lac Hilarion the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Petit lac Cheffois, 1.6 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing on Lac Hilarion should be assumed from this page alone.