Fishing at Lac Whip, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec

• Overview

  You will find Lac Whip in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec. The land about it is northern bush. Small at around 10 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. The nearest town is Senneterre, 111 km away. Gatineau sits 278 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Alternatives close at hand: Lac Fence at 0.8 km, Petit lac Shannon within 1.5 km, Lac Roger at 1.8 km, Lac Sap within 2.1 km and Lac Chaudillon at 2.6 km. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Lac Whip

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name northern pike, yellow perch, walleye and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Lac Whip gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 16°C and January at -18°C. The ice season is long here and the open one short. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about mid November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. It holds true on Lac Whip more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Failing this one, try Lac Fence, 0.8 km away. None of that is settled for Lac Whip in what we hold.