Fishing at Lac Tisonnier, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Quebec holds Lac Tisonnier, in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean. Everything around it is spruce and muskeg. Roughly 2.25 sq km of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. There is roughly 17 km of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. On our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean list it sits near the top for size. Pont Rouge sits 98 km from the bank. After that come Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc at 100 km and Dolbeau-Mistassini at 104 km. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lac Tisonnier

  Depth figures are not published for this one. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Records held for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean cover northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Lac Tisonnier gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 16°C at the top of summer and -19°C at the bottom of winter. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early May. Average temperatures cross freezing around early May in spring and again near mid November in autumn. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Lac Tisonnier runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. The nearest alternative is Lac Muapumteu, 5 km out. Where Lac Tisonnier is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.