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

• Overview

  Lac Routot sits in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, out in Quebec. The setting is taiga. This is a pocket water of some 4 hectares, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Head to Normandin, 86 km away, for anything you forgot. It is 203 km to Saguenay, the nearest city. Nearby, in order: Lac de la Licorne (0.5 km), Lac des Mainates out at 1 km, Lac Begin (1 km), Lac Tasse out at 1.6 km and Lac des Surmulots (1.7 km). No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Lac Routot

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. 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. Across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, recorded fish include northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Lac Routot fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between -18°C in January and 16°C in July. The fishing year opens late and shuts early. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near early May. In an average year the thaw lands around early May and the freeze near mid November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. It holds true on Lac Routot more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Should this one be busy, Lac de la Licorne is 0.5 km off. The position on Lac Routot is worth confirming on the day.