Fishing at Lac Picard, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Picard is one of the Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean waters in Quebec. The surface lies 669 metres up. Around 27 hectares of surface means several distinct areas to work. Shoreline comes to about 2.7 km, small enough to learn in a day. It sits higher than most water we list in Quebec. For supplies, Saint-Honoré is 52 km out. It is 63 km to Saguenay, the nearest city. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac Picard

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, recorded fish include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. The shape of Lac Picard rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 15°C, the coldest about -19°C. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near mid May. Expect the water usable from around mid May until roughly early November. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. Plan any trip to Lac Picard around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Lac du Relais, 0.8 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing on Lac Picard should be assumed from this page alone.