Lac La Marlie in Laurentides: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Laurentides, Quebec, this is Lac La Marlie. The setting is boreal forest. The water covers some 15 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Bank access stretches around 2.5 km in total. Manawan at 67 km is the nearest place to stop. Ferme-Neuve is 75 km away, with Mont-Laurier at 92 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac La Marlie

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Records held for Laurentides cover pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, brook trout and rock bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Lac La Marlie repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 17°C; the cold one sits at -16°C. The year here is short and sharp: a long lid, then a burst of open water. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near early May. From about early May to around mid November, expect open water on the long-run figures. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Expect Lac La Marlie to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Failing this one, try Lac Gaucho, 1.5 km away. Check the current arrangement for Lac La Marlie.