Petit lac Clary Fishing Guide, Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

• Overview

  Set in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, this is Petit lac Clary. Land around it is northern bush. With some 31 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The margin runs to about 5.7 km in total. It ranks high for size among our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean listings. The closest town, Pont Rouge, is 42 km distant. Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc is 43 km and Sainte-Monique 44 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Petit lac Clary

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Anyone new to Petit lac Clary should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 16°C; the cold one sits at -19°C. Everything is compressed into the middle of the year. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from early May. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about early May until roughly mid November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. The season on Petit lac Clary rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Débarcadère provides a boat ramp about 1 km away. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Lac a Moffat, 1.3 km away, makes the obvious fallback. The position on Petit lac Clary is worth confirming on the day.