Fishing at Lac Laas, Mauricie, Quebec

• Overview

  Out in Mauricie, Quebec, sits Lac Laas. Beyond the shoreline you have spruce and muskeg. It covers about 2 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Mauricie list. Leblanc is the closest place, 59 km off. Saguenay is the closest city, 239 km away. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac Laas

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Mauricie cover northern pike, brook trout, walleye, yellow perch and white sucker. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. The shape of Lac Laas decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July near 16°C and January near -18°C on the long-run figures. Winter owns most of the year at this latitude. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. In an average year the thaw lands around early May and the freeze near mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. That is the shape of the year on Lac Laas.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Failing this one, try Lac Chirens, 0.8 km away. Treat Lac Laas as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.