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

• Overview

  Set in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Lac Moutrel is a Quebec water. The land about it is boreal forest. Surface area is around 17 hectares, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Bank access stretches around 2.8 km in total. You are 55 km from Normandin. It is 172 km to Saguenay, the nearest city. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac Moutrel

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, recorded fish include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. On Lac Moutrel the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 16°C, with January the cold end at about -18°C. A short, intense season is the rule this far north. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. Climate averages put the opening at about early May and the closing near mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. At Lac Moutrel the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Should this one be busy, Lac Bresse is 1.2 km off. What applies at Lac Moutrel may have changed since it was mapped.