Fishing at Lac Hirbour, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  The Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean end of Quebec holds Lac Hirbour. The water sits 310 metres up. Around 14 hectares of surface means several distinct areas to work. The bank runs about 1.9 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Normandin is the closest place, 57 km off. Beyond it, Albanel at 60 km and Saint-Félicien at 72 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac Hirbour

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Lac Hirbour repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 16°C in July and bottoms out near -18°C in January. Cold dominates the calendar on water this far north. Once it clears, about early May, the fishing comes on quickly. The lid tends to go about early May and return around mid November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Lac Hirbour runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Lac Charix is 1.9 km off. Nothing on Lac Hirbour should be assumed from this page alone.