Fishing Lac Winchester in Nord-du-Québec, Quebec

• Overview

  Set in Nord-du-Québec, Lac Winchester is a Quebec water. Around the bank it is spruce and muskeg. Surface area runs to roughly 2.06 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. The perimeter runs near 11 km, so plan the walk before you start. Chapais lies 32 km from the water. Beyond it, Chibougamau at 50 km and Waswanipi at 110 km. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Lac Winchester

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Fish documented in Nord-du-Québec include Arctic charr, brook trout and lake trout. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. At Lac Winchester the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -19°C to 16°C. Little of the calendar is open water, so timing counts for everything. Count the season from break-up, usually early May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. That is the shape of the year on Lac Winchester.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. If the gate is shut, Lac Dawning at 3.1 km is the nearest alternative. Check the current arrangement for Lac Winchester.