Lac Olivette, Quebec: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Look for Lac Olivette in the Mauricie part of Quebec. Everything around it is taiga. The water covers some 35 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. About 4.3 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. It ranks high for size among our Mauricie listings. Leblanc at 66 km is the nearest place to stop. Weymontachie lies 101 km off, Manawan another 102 km. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Lac Olivette

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Mauricie include northern pike, brook trout and walleye. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The near bank of Lac Olivette is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs -17°C to 16°C. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about mid November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Time your trip to Lac Olivette by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Failing this one, try Lac Bacardy, 0.8 km away. The position on Lac Olivette is worth confirming on the day.