Lac Routhier, Quebec: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Out in Mauricie, Quebec, sits Lac Routhier. The land about it is boreal forest. At 3 hectares it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. It is a small entry by Mauricie standards. Weymontachie at 39 km is the nearest place to stop. Leblanc lies 77 km off, La Tuque another 85 km. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Lac Routhier

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. County-wide records name northern pike, brook trout, walleye and yellow perch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Lac Routhier gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 16°C on average, January about -17°C. Everything is compressed into the middle of the year. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around early May. From about early May to around mid November, expect open water on the long-run figures. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. On Lac Routhier the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Lac Mockler is 1.1 km distant. For Lac Routhier, the notice at the access point is the final word.