Lacs des Loups Marins in Nord-du-Québec: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Nord-du-Québec entry here is Lacs des Loups Marins, in Quebec. Everything around it is boreal forest. This is big water, about 485.67 sq km, and in a wind it behaves like a small sea. Long inlets mean the far ends can be calm while the main body is rough. On our Nord-du-Québec list it sits near the top for size. You are 336 km from Sanikiluaq. It is 917 km to Saguenay, the nearest city. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lacs des Loups Marins

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Nord-du-Québec records list Arctic charr, brook trout, lake trout, lake whitefish and cisco among the fish reported. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. At Lacs des Loups Marins light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 12°C in July and bottoms out near -24°C in January. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late May. Averages place the thaw at late May and the freeze at early November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Lacs des Loups Marins fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. 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. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Lac Maulnier is 20 km distant. Check the position at Lacs des Loups Marins before loading the car.