Fishing at Lac Mouttet, Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  The Laurentides entry here is Lac Mouttet, in Quebec. It lies 282 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to about 6 hectares — small enough to read in one session. Head to La Minerve, 19 km away, for anything you forgot. Beyond it, Rivière-Rouge at 25 km and Labelle at 33 km. Also on the doorstep: Lac Bourgeois at 1.2 km, Lac Lemire at about 1.4 km, Lac des Sept Freres at 1.5 km, Lac Setace at about 1.5 km and Lac Primeau at 1.8 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Lac Mouttet

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Open biodiversity records for Laurentides list pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and brook trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Lac Mouttet gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 18°C and January about -14°C. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. Lac Mouttet runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. For a change of water, Lac Bourgeois is 1.2 km distant. What applies at Lac Mouttet may have changed since it was mapped.