Fishing at Lac Simon, Outaouais, Quebec

• Overview

  Quebec holds Lac Simon, in Outaouais. Height above sea level is 289 metres. With some 22 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. With about 3.2 km of edge, you can try several depths in one session. Supplies mean a trip to Saint-Raphaël, 44 km off. It is 114 km to Gatineau, the nearest city. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac Simon

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name pumpkinseed, yellow perch, smallmouth bass and rainbow smelt. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. On Lac Simon that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 18°C and January reads -14°C. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The lid usually goes in late April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. That is the shape of the year on Lac Simon.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Lac Odber is 1.6 km distant. Check the position on Lac Simon before loading the car.