Lac Ruby in Laurentides: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Lac Ruby is one of the Laurentides listings for Quebec. Elevation runs to 458 metres. It covers about 7 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. The closest town, Manawan, is 43 km distant. Saint-Louis-de-Terrebonne sits 158 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 Ruby

  Our records hold no depth for this water. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Across Laurentides, recorded fish include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, brook trout and rock bass. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Lac Ruby repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -16°C in January up to 17°C in July. The ice season is long here and the open one short. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early May. On average, early May opens the water and mid November closes it again. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. On Lac Ruby the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Failing this one, try Lac Bienvenue, 1.1 km away. Ask locally about Lac Ruby if anything is unclear.