Petit lac Ben Fishing in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Petit lac Ben falls in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, part of Quebec. The ground round it is taiga. A pocket of water where every cast reaches cover. It is a small entry by Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean standards. You are 64 km from Pont Rouge. Then Dolbeau-Mistassini, 64 km, and Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, 66 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Petit lac Ben

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Read Petit lac Ben for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 17°C and January about -20°C. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about mid November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Plan around that when you fish Petit lac Ben.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Lac Antoine at 0.7 km is the sensible second choice. The position on Petit lac Ben is worth confirming on the day.