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

• Overview

  The Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean end of Quebec holds Petit lac Croche. The surface lies 679 metres up. The water covers some 32 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Shoreline comes to about 2.8 km, small enough to learn in a day. It ranks high for size among our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean listings. You are 51 km from Saint-Honoré. Then Saint-Fulgence, 57 km, and Saint-Ambroise, 58 km. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Petit lac Croche

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean records list northern pike, Atlantic salmon and lake whitefish among the fish reported. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. At Petit lac Croche the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -19°C to 15°C. The year here is short and sharp: a long lid, then a burst of open water. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid May. Average temperatures cross freezing around mid May in spring and again near early November in autumn. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. It sets the rhythm of the year at Petit lac Croche.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Failing this one, try Lac aux Moules, 0.8 km away. Confirm before you fish Petit lac Croche.