Fishing Lac Mercier in Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Mercier lies in Laurentides, in Quebec. The water sits 273 metres up. At about 13 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The full circuit measures close to 2.1 km on foot. For a base, La Minerve sits 19 km out. Orléans sits 103 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Within a short drive: Lac Gold 0.5 km off, Lac Lartigue just 0.5 km, Lac Raynel 0.6 km off, Lac Regina just 0.6 km and Lac Labelle 1 km off. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lac Mercier

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Reported across Laurentides: pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and brook trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Anyone new to Lac Mercier should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 18°C at the top of summer and -14°C at the bottom of winter. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Climate figures give an open season running late April to late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Lac Mercier runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Mapping is blank for access, so scout the approach before committing the car. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Failing this one, try Lac Gold, 0.5 km away. Confirm before you fish Lac Mercier.