Lac Mottier in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Lac Mottier is a Quebec water. What surrounds it is northern bush. The water measures roughly 5 hectares, so nothing here is far from anything else. Chibougamau is the closest town at 74 km. Further out sit Chapais (94 km) and Normandin (106 km). No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lac Mottier

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Lac Mottier repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 16°C at the top of summer and -19°C at the bottom of winter. Cold dominates the year and the fishing works around it. After early May the shallows warm and the fish move up. Averages place the thaw at early May and the freeze at mid November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. On Lac Mottier that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. Local rules can differ across the county line, so check where you stand. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. For a change of water, Lac Alban is 1.2 km distant. Check the position on Lac Mottier before loading the car.