Le Bon Lac in Capitale-Nationale: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Capitale-Nationale, Le Bon Lac is a Quebec water. The surface lies 354 metres up. Around 44 hectares of surface means several distinct areas to work. The perimeter runs near 6.0 km, so plan the walk before you start. Few waters listed in Capitale-Nationale are bigger. Laurentides is the closest place, 11 km off. Further out sit Saint-Raymond (35 km) and Saint-Ubalde (42 km). It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Le Bon Lac

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Open biodiversity records for Capitale-Nationale list lake sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, longnose sucker, sauger and channel catfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Read Le Bon Lac for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 17°C in July and bottom out at -15°C in January. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The season between ice runs from about late April to late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That is the shape of the year on Le Bon Lac.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. There is a marked fishing area 760 m from here. Walleye come to jigs worked slow near bottom, and to trolled crankbaits along the drops at dusk. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. The nearest alternative is Lac des Veroniques, 1.4 km out. For Le Bon Lac in particular, ask before you travel.