Lac Patate Fishing near Mattawa, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Patate is one of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue waters in Quebec. Beyond the shoreline you have mixed forest. The water covers some 10 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. A shoreline of some 1.5 km keeps the choices simple. Mattawa at 46 km is the nearest place to stop. The nearest city of size is Greater Sudbury, 209 km away. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Lac Patate

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Records held for Abitibi-Témiscamingue cover northern pike, yellow perch and walleye. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Lac Patate gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 18°C; the cold one sits at -14°C. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. The lid usually goes in late April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at late November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. That shapes the year on Lac Patate.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. If the gate is shut, Lac du Crapaud at 1.4 km is the nearest alternative. Nothing here settles the position at Lac Patate for certain.