Month: February 2018

Following his visit to the Pourvoirie du Lac Berval last winter, Mahtieu Dansereau shared his advice that we are sharing again this year because it is still relevant.

Mathieu Dansereau is a great fishing enthusiast but also a Prostaff for Vexilar, Northland Fishing Tackle and Okuma fishing USA. In addition, he is a member of Team Canada Pro but also of the show Pêche en Ligne.

Mathieu Dansereau
February 7th · 2017

Trout is one of the favorite species of Quebecers. For the quality of its fishing, its warm welcome and the kindness of its staff, for the past 2 years I have been going to Pourvoirie Du Lac Berval, a place where rainbow and speckled trout are present. Many people ask me with which lure I fish or which sector we fish… here is a turnkey solution, which I hope will improve your next trout fishing trip. Note that it’s small details can also make the difference on your favorite lake.

Where to fish?

Regardless of the bodies of water, if you want to be successful in fishing, you must always favor structures. Considering that outfitting lakes are very rarely mapped via mobile applications, we must therefore use what we notice visually. Spikes, submerged trees, beaver lodges, river inlets, under docks and rock cliffs are all favorable environments for hopeful success.
Logically, if you notice a restricted fishing area with several of these environments grouped together, it’s a safe bet that a good concentration of fish is lurking around.

Jig or fleece?

I always use both for trout fishing. For several reasons, I always use as much line as I can. So if industry regulations allow 5 lines per permit, I strategically install 4 poles and use my waddle rod to reach the maximum.

It is important to cover as much territory as possible, this way you can target which sectors pay the most and thus readjust the positioning of your lines accordingly.

Trout swim most of the time in suspension; in winter I prioritize the first 1/3 of the water column directly under the ice, it is in these depths that I have had the most success. Do not be afraid either to settle as little as 6 inches below the icy surface. With different lines to install at different depths, you will quickly be able to target the “paturn” of the moment in order to readjust the rest of your installation.

What lure used?

The trout’s diet varies according to its size, but in general: plankton, crustaceans, insects, slugs, leeches and small fish are among its food choices. It is therefore strategic to choose a lure in order to imitate their food chains as much as possible. Over time, I noticed that lures with pink were very effective and stood out from other colors.

My favorite lures…

* Larva fly Northland – Pink rainbow – 1/50oz

* Fire-fly jig Northland – Pink / White – 1/32oz

A small addition that makes a huge difference, the Pheromox from the Monette farm are EXCELLENT. But very important, to only apply a light layer on your lures to have the most realism possible.

In February 2017, Martin Vaillant, fishing guide and columnist for Sentier Chasse et Pêche Magazine, spent a stay at the outfitter and shares these fishing techniques with us here.

You can follow him on the facebook page of his new fishing show SOS Pêche

Martin Vaillant

February 15th ·2017

Lots of questions about the techniques and lures I used at Pourvoirie Du Lac Berval. Here is, as promised, a short summary of my tests and the results obtained.

– I arrived Monday noon at the outfitter, so I fished for a little two hours in the afternoon. I installed 5 rods in depths of 8 to 15 feet, 4 of my modified brimbales and 1 jigger. I rode 2 rods with just a hook, a sinker 2 feet below and a worm. The other 2 rods I chose to use pink and white Atomic teasers without any bait. In 2 hours 6 attacks on the atomic teasers for 0 boarding on the ice, 1 attack on the worms for 1 trout of 12 inches on the ice. 0 trout on my jigger with atomic teaser that I had in hand during the 2 hours.

The next morning with the weak results of the day before, I decide to make some modifications. I keep a rod with atomic teaser, 1 with the worm and 2 that I ride with pink and white Power Nymphs. Quickly I have 4 attacks on the pink Power Nymphs but only 1 beautiful trout of 2.14 lbs was thwarted. I quickly change my 4 rimbales with Power Nymph and I put a piece of corn on 2 of them and a worm on the 2 others. The attacks multiply quickly on the 2 rods with corn and the average rises to 3 attacks out of 4 which ends with a trout instead of 1 out of 4. I therefore change the 4 rods for a Power Nymph with corn. While rummaging in my trunk I find a small jar of gulp alive imitation corn, I install it on 2 canes and keep two canes with the real corn. 30 seconds later I have a big attack on the gulp, a nice 3.4lbs trout. At this point I change my jigger for a pink 1/32 jig head and a pink Power Nymph has lived which I add a corn gulp. I didn’t need to change the rig until the end of the stay, the trout lined up one after the other with several specimens between 3 and 4.4 lbs! I caught a few trout on my jigger but the less I jigged it the more success I had, so I left it on its support without touching it. I had more attack in the end on the corn gulp than on the real corn, probably due to its slightly more fluorescent color.

Unlike usual, the closer the lure was to the bottom, the more success I had. A rather unusual pattern for rainbow trout which normally attacks more suspended lures and sometimes very close below the ice. The longer the week went on, the colder it got, until it reached -25°C on the last day. Every day I had to go deeper and deeper to be successful, so the last day I had to fish between 22 and 30 feet to be successful and oddly that’s the day I took my biggest!

I want to mention that this is not a usual patern for the rainbow. As for the lures yes it is as usual but for the depth of fishing it is rather rare. Usually we catch a lot more rainbows by vigorously jigging the lure on a small jigging rod between 2 and 8 feet under the ice, in this case it was quite the opposite, the less I moved the rod the more the lure was deeper… the more success I had. Always be careful when fishing, especially when fishing a stocked lake, trout habits can vary greatly depending on the arrival of trout and the longer they have been in the lake, the more they will take on typical trout behavior. Rainbow. The important thing if it does not work is to quickly adjust because they will not, it is you who must modify your approach.

Last point, noise on the ice usually attracts the rainbow, but during my stay, the simple fact of running towards a snag caused the trout to stop biting immediately, I had to arrive on tip of the feet so as not to frighten them. The day I had the least success was when a rather noisy group of snowmobilers came to set up near me.

I wish you a great fishing and thank you once again Pourvoirie Du Lac Berval for the great vacation! 🙂

P.S on the last photo you can see an example of my modified brimbale which gives me excellent results when the attacks are shy, very effective for walleye by the way! 😉 In addition, the fight on a small jigger rod is much more pleasant than pulling the wire of your brimbale with your fingers.