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

• Overview

  Quebec holds Petit lac Onistagane, in Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean. The bank is 615 metres above sea level. This is sizeable water at about 2.49 sq km, and a boat opens up most of it. The margin runs to about 20 km in total. It ranks high for size among our Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean listings. The closest town, Mistissini, is 173 km distant. Saguenay sits 242 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Petit lac Onistagane

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Species logged across Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean include northern pike, Atlantic salmon, lake whitefish and fallfish. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Petit lac Onistagane responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -21°C in January up to 14°C in July. This is a two-season water: locked, then wide open. Ice-out usually falls in mid May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate figures give an open season running mid May to early November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Anyone fishing Petit lac Onistagane regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Failing this one, try Lac Chenille, 16 km away. Check the current arrangement for Petit lac Onistagane.