Lac Patate Fishing in Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  Quebec holds Lac Patate, in Laurentides. Height above sea level is 370 metres. At about 15 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The edge runs 1.9 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Head to Ferme-Neuve, 80 km away, for anything you forgot. Then Manawan, 81 km, and Mont-Laurier, 97 km. Near neighbours: Lac Lilian at 2.3 km, Lac Duc the better part of 3.1 km, Lac Ducarny at 3.4 km, Lac Leroy the better part of 3.5 km and Lac Choate at 4.3 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac Patate

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Records held for Laurentides cover pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Read Lac Patate before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 17°C and January reads -17°C. Everything is compressed into the middle of the year. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early May. Break-up near early May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Expect Lac Patate to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Lac Lilian sits 2.3 km off and takes the overflow. For Lac Patate, the notice at the access point is the final word.