Lac Racine Fishing Guide, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  The Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean entry here is Lac Racine, in Quebec. The surroundings are spruce and muskeg. Small at around 4 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list holds plenty of bigger water. Normandin lies 28 km from the water. After that come Saint-Félicien at 30 km and Albanel at 37 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Lac Racine

  Our records hold no depth for this water. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean records list northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish among the fish reported. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Lac Racine repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -18°C in January to roughly 16°C in July. The freeze holds for the better part of the year. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from early May. Ice clears near early May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Expect Lac Racine to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. 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. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. If the gate is shut, Lac Andonias at 0.4 km is the nearest alternative. Where Lac Racine is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.