Lac Mercier in Mauricie: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Quebec holds Lac Mercier, in Mauricie. It stands 533 metres above sea level. With some 13 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 1.9 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Quebec listings. Nearest place of any size is Weymontachie, 48 km away. The nearest city of size is Saguenay, 189 km away. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac Mercier

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Public occurrence data for Mauricie names northern pike, brook trout and walleye. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Work Lac Mercier in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 16°C in July and bottom out at -18°C in January. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. Ice is part of the season here, ending near early May. Averages place the thaw at early May and the freeze at mid November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. Expect Lac Mercier to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. The map shows no ramp or car park nearby, so this is a walk-in water. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Should this one be busy, Lac Bob is 0.5 km off. Where Lac Mercier is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.