# Lac Lacroix and August Pike



## NY Trooper

My father and I will be departing for Lac Lacroix in about two weeks for our first Canadian adventure. I have been researching the internet for information on the area and have found limited info available. Lacroix is on the 49th parallel. Any idea on water temps in that area for the early part of August? I am pretty sure that I have all the necessary equipment (i.e. lures) for the task at hand. Any suggestions on times and patterns for the bigger fish in this part of the world? I will be taking two bait casters with 20 pounds of Stren super braid. Any input there? Look forward to hearing from those who have been there and live there.


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## Invector

Water can reach into the 70's. As far as areas to look for, try rock bars and weeds. The weeds can hold big pike up there, but only if its not too choaked out. I dont fish summer up there but I go to a lake near flin flan and have been there in september. We used spoons mostly but did toss a few jerk baits. You might want to look at mouths of bays and weed edges for um. If there are any rivers or creeks coming in and out of the lake I would fish them to see what they offer. I'm sure the person who runs the camp your going to can give you some good ideas on where to go. Dont forget leaders. I have had pike bite over a 5" leader and a red eye spoon before...thats almost 10" that fish took. I use 8"-10" laeders not that I make myself. Make sure you got some daredevil spoons, redeye spoons, and a few big cranks. If the water is a bit cooler then you might find them almost anyplace you look...but if it is warmer you might have to get out to the 10' or deeper and troll some big plugs. Smaller Jakes and Grandma cranks can prove to be good. Your rods might be ok, I suggest a heavie action rod in the 6ft or longer range. I use mainly 2 rods. One that is a bass pro 6'6" bionic blade IM8 in a heavy action rod able to take up to 2 oz lures and a strong real to match. My other one is a lighter weight musky rod. Its a medium heavy action 6'6" also able to take 2oz lures, being a musky rod it is alot stronger but has great casting abilities. Smaller rods will work but only recomended if you have the skill.

Good luck with the trip and we want to see the pics when you get back


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## NY Trooper

Well we have returned from Lac Lacroix safe and sound. A wonderful time was had at the lodge and the lake. For our first trip to Canada we were very satisfied with what we experienced. Unfortunately there were two downers to the trip. The first and most prevelant to me was the lack of big pike in this lake. It would seem that the big pike were over represented by the lodge owner. Talking to one of the guides at the lake we found that the biggest fish caught to date this year was a ten pounder. I personally caught over thirty pike in the 2 to 5 pound range. I was very satisfied with the action but disapointed with the size. The second issue was that the boats were very much lacking in size and power for a lake of this size. The lake was 24 miles long and this does not include the 3 rivers attached to it. Now maybe there were better spots out there, but with the boats available it was just not practical to go exploring. The boats were older heavy fiberglass boats fitted with 9.9 hp 4-stroke Mercury engines. The best speed we could attain was 8.1 mph according to the GPS unit I carried. Anyone who might be considering a trip to this area may want to reconsider. I feel that there are better values out there than this location.


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## Leo Porcello

That is kind of a bummer. I bet if you could have explored some more you could have gotten to some bigger fish especially around where the rivers dump in. I have never fished there but in Alaska it always seemed like the monster fish were by those rivers. Do you know if there was a motor restriction for the lake? I thought I saw on a fishing show that some or maybe most lakes in Canada have restrictions (I may be wrong though).


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## NY Trooper

No, there is no motor restriction for the lake we were on. My guess is that the owner (who is female) feels that the fishing is just fine very close to the lodge. So there is no need to go very far for good fishing. What surprised me was the lack of vegetation. Living in New York I know a thing or two about weed beds. If those things up that far north are what you call weed beds I would get more cover from a maple leaf! LOL All in all though it was a great experience. It would have been nice to have a boat that was capable of exploring farther equipped with a good fish finder to help in the quest. Next trip will be better for sure where ever that may be!


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## ISLANDER

Invector. I learned one important thing about leaders. A good rule is to make or get them bigger than the fish your fishing. I learned this surf cast fishing for stripers. They are not known to chew through the line. I turns out its not only the teeth of the fish but the dorsal fin can be just as bad. When the fish is on long enough, them "rolling" on you line is enogh to fray and break it. If your fishing 30 to 50 inch fish I would go with a leader at least half that. Fishing the surf of Long Island, especialy in the fall, I make nothing shorter than 36 inch, 60# leaders. Good Luck!


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## fishman

the bigger pike stay in the other lakes that run into lacroix. but do to lack of planning and investment by the owers it wasnt possible to fish these other lakes. i agree 100% that the boats and motors wasnt what was needed there, and believe you me, i know boats and motors since i am 47 years old and was in boats since 1 was 7 years old.sorry you had a bad trip buddy maybe the link i gave you will be a good one. it certainly looks good from my end :wink:


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## NY Trooper

Thanks fishman, maybe I will catch out on a Canadian lake real soon! :beer:


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## fishman

if i see you again on a canadian lake again here is what is gonna happen :sniper: :beer:


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## bvn13

:beer:


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