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

• Overview

  The Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean end of Quebec holds Lac Tchitogama. The setting is taiga on every side. This is big water, about 46.51 sq km, and in a wind it behaves like a small sea. With about 185 km of shoreline, local advice saves a lot of walking. On our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list it sits near the top for size. Nearest town is Labrecque, 21 km off. Saguenay is the closest city, 52 km away. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lac Tchitogama

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. 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. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Fish Lac Tchitogama where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 17°C at the top of summer and -18°C at the bottom of winter. The window is narrow, and fish feed hard while it lasts. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate averages put the opening at about early May and the closing near mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Plan around that when you fish Lac Tchitogama.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. Public data records a boat ramp 1.4 km out. Lac Tchitogama (doré, brochet) sits 1.4 km out and is marked for fishing. Overnight stays are possible 1.4 km away. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Lac a Freddy sits 1.6 km off and takes the overflow. Rules at Lac Tchitogama are worth checking on the day.