Fishing Lac Raoul in Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  Lac Raoul stands in Laurentides, Quebec. It lies 446 metres above sea level. The water measures roughly 3 hectares, so nothing here is far from anything else. Most waters listed here for Laurentides are larger. Some 42 km away sits Ferme-Neuve, the nearest settlement. Saint-Louis-de-Terrebonne sits 167 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lac Raoul

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Open biodiversity records for Laurentides list pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Lac Raoul fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 17°C; the cold one sits at -16°C. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about mid November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. It holds true on Lac Raoul more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. The nearest alternative is Lac Andy, 1 km out. Rules at Lac Raoul are worth checking on the day.