Lac John Fishing near Baie-Comeau, Quebec

• Overview

  Quebec holds Lac John, in Côte-Nord. The water sits 163 metres up. Roughly 11 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Around 1.8 km of margin, front to back. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Quebec listings. Some 14 km away sits Baie-Comeau, the nearest settlement. The big place round here is Saguenay, 238 km distant. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac John

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. County-wide records name logperch. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Treat Lac John as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 16°C; by January the average is down near -15°C. The season is measured in weeks rather than months. 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. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. It holds true on Lac John more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the perch, a small jig tipped with worm, dropped along the edges, is hard to beat. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. For a change of water, Lac Larouche is 0.7 km distant. None of that is settled for Lac John in what we hold.