Fishing Lac Montjoie in Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  Look for Lac Montjoie in the Laurentides part of Quebec. Land around it is mixed forest. This is big water, about 11.92 sq km, and in a wind it behaves like a small sea. The perimeter is close to 42 km, and wind can be flat in one arm and rough in the next. On our Laurentides list it sits near the top for size. La Minerve is the closest town at 16 km. Rivière-Rouge is 25 km and Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel 30 km. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Lac Montjoie

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Survey and observation records for Laurentides include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and brook trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. The near bank of Lac Montjoie is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 18°C in July and bottom out at -14°C in January. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly late November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. The season on Lac Montjoie rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. For a change of water, Lac Cers is 1.9 km distant. None of that is settled for Lac Montjoie in what we hold.