Lac Leslie in Mauricie: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Mauricie, Quebec, this is Lac Leslie. Elevation runs to 415 metres. The water covers some 25 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. You are looking at roughly 8.3 km of shoreline, with plenty of water between access points. The nearest place of any size is Leblanc, 96 km away. Manawan follows at 123 km, then Senneterre at 132 km. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lac Leslie

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Public occurrence data for Mauricie names northern pike, brook trout, walleye and yellow perch. The county list is broader than any single water. At Lac Leslie the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 17°C, while January sits near -18°C. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. Climate averages put the opening at about early May and the closing near mid November. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. Lac Leslie runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Should this one be busy, Lac Bertha is 1.3 km off. Nothing here settles the position at Lac Leslie for certain.