Lac Lefrancois in Laurentides: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Lefrancois stands in Laurentides, Quebec. It sits in mixed forest. Head to Ferme-Neuve, 51 km away, for anything you forgot. Gatineau sits 188 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Neighbouring water: Petit lac Double at about 0.8 km, Lac Levesque roughly 2.6 km, Lac Sobieski at about 2.9 km, Grand lac Sapin roughly 3.2 km and Lac Brignolet at about 4 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac Lefrancois

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Laurentides cover pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Fish Lac Lefrancois to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 17°C in July and bottoms out near -16°C in January. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. Climate figures give an open season running late April to late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. At Lac Lefrancois the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Petit lac Double sits 0.8 km off and takes the overflow. Confirm before you fish Lac Lefrancois.