Lac Oudain in Nord-du-Québec: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In Quebec, Lac Oudain falls inside Nord-du-Québec. The ground round it is taiga. At 4.50 sq km this is proper open water rather than a pond. At about 27 km of edge, most people fish a single area and learn it well. Kuujjuaq at 159 km is the nearest place to stop. The big place round here is Saguenay, 1112 km distant. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac Oudain

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. County-wide records name Arctic charr, brook trout and lake trout. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Fish Lac Oudain to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 11°C for July and -23°C for January. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Once it clears, about early June, the fishing comes on quickly. Break-up near early June, freeze-up near late October: that is the shape of an average year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. The season on Lac Oudain rarely departs from it.

• 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. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Lac Girardin is 22 km off. Nothing here settles the position at Lac Oudain for certain.