Fishing Lac McRae in Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  Laurentides, Quebec, is where Lac McRae sits. It stands 264 metres above sea level. At about 25 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The bank runs about 2.7 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Few waters listed in Laurentides are bigger. The nearest town is Brownsburg-Chatham, 17 km away. The big place round here is Saint-Louis-de-Terrebonne, 58 km distant. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac McRae

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Laurentides records list pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and brook trout among the fish reported. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. At Lac McRae the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -13°C to 19°C. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Ice clears near late April and comes back about early December in a typical year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. The season on Lac McRae follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Mapping shows no built access close by; expect to walk in from wherever you can leave the car. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Lac Norman-Dewar is 0.6 km distant. Nothing on Lac McRae should be assumed from this page alone.