Fishing at Lac Sheila, Laurentides, Quebec

• Overview

  You will find Lac Sheila in Laurentides, Quebec. It sits at 424 metres above sea level. It covers about 6 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Manawan lies 46 km from the water. After that come Ferme-Neuve at 53 km and Rivière-Rouge at 59 km. Neighbouring water: Lac Carole about 1.2 km, Lac Patricia 2.8 km away, Lac Colleen about 2.9 km, Lac Jake 3.6 km away and Lac du Cap about 3.6 km. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Lac Sheila

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Laurentides cover pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, brook trout and rock bass. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Lac Sheila repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 17°C in July and bottom out at -16°C in January. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Lac Sheila fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. The nearest alternative is Lac Carole, 1.2 km out. Nothing here settles the position at Lac Sheila for certain.