Quebec's wildlife ministry recently released the rules for the 2026-2027 fishing season. While some of the rules they have updated make sense, the zone has been chopped up into various segments in the zone exceptions, making them more complex than they should be. Personally, I think it would have been simpler to simply include the entire zone into the new system, being that much of the most fished waterways are now under the exceptions category. Leave it to the ministry to complicate things more than need be...
In a nutshell, much of the St Lawrence river and it's tributaries will be completely shut down to fishing during the last 2 weeks in March, starting in 2027. As well, most of these waterways will now have a slot size for keeping pike (56 to 70 cm), and walleye bag limit reduced to 2 fish. Walleyes and saugers will be under a mix of separate and combined rules, i.e. sauger opening 2 weeks later later than walleye, but combined total bags with a majority of saugers only. Walleye and Saugers will also be closed in these exception zones for most of fall (November 1 to December 19), and re-open for the now shortened ice / winter season. Segments of the Outaouais River, Mille Isles river, and even the Lachine canal fall into some of these new rules as well.
As always, ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse. Be sure to check out the new rules page at: https://peche.faune.gouv.qc.ca/regpec/en/Info/Reglements?id_zone=8&id_saisn=220&resultats=True
The exceptions are listed below the general rules for the zone.
- The
icon indicates a change from the previous season.
Looks like the conservation agents are going to have their work cut out, and no doubt many people are likely to run into some expensive "surprises" due to the confusion.
Lastly, don't forget to renew your fishing licenses that expire in 2 weeks. You can do so online, or at stores like Canadian Tire, Sail, etc.
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