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

• Overview

  The Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean end of Quebec holds Lac Richard. This is northern bush ground. Roughly 80 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The margin runs to about 5.7 km in total. On our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list it sits near the top for size. 84 km away sits Pont Rouge, the nearest town. Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc is 85 km and Sainte-Monique 89 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac Richard

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Fish documented in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. On Lac Richard that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 16°C on average, January about -19°C. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Count the season from break-up, usually early May. Expect the water usable from around early May until roughly mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Plan around that when you fish Lac Richard.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Lac du Grain sits 0.8 km off and takes the overflow. Check the position on Lac Richard before loading the car.