Lac Matou, Quebec: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Out in Côte-Nord, Quebec, sits Lac Matou. It sits at 557 metres above sea level. With some 69 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Around 6.0 km of bank, which is a long day on foot. Compared with other Quebec water on our list, it sits high. Head to Saint-Honoré, 102 km away, for anything you forgot. Further out sit Saint-Fulgence (103 km) and Forestville (110 km). Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac Matou

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Côte-Nord names logperch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The near bank of Lac Matou is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -19°C in January to roughly 15°C in July. Little of the calendar is open water, so timing counts for everything. After mid May the shallows warm and the fish move up. The lid tends to go about mid May and return around early November. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. Lac Matou fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the perch, a small jig tipped with worm, dropped along the edges, is hard to beat. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. For a change of water, Lac Trompeur is 1 km distant. Check the position at Lac Matou before loading the car.