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

• Overview

  Lac Laval is a Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean water, Quebec side. Beyond the shoreline you have boreal forest. Small at around 3 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. It is a small entry by Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean standards. Pont Rouge lies 62 km from the water. Further out sit Dolbeau-Mistassini (62 km) and Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc (64 km). One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac Laval

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean cover northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Work Lac Laval in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 17°C; the cold one sits at -20°C. Water stays cold even at the height of the year. Once it clears, about early May, the fishing comes on quickly. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about early May until roughly mid November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. The season on Lac Laval rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Failing this one, try Petit lac du Castor, 0.6 km away. Signs at Lac Laval carry more weight than any list.