NOVA SCOTIA. 115 



salmon districts. Most of tliem are short, running in paral- 

 lel lines to the sea, only a few miles apart. The fishing- 

 ground seldom extends more than ten miles from their 

 mouths, and they are so accessible to settlements, that the 

 angler can surfeit himself with sport by day, and sleep in. a 

 comfortable inn or farm-house at night — a juxtaposition of 

 advantages seldom to be found in America. There is no 

 necessity for camping out. 



The time for salmon fishing in Kova Scotia begins much 

 earher than in the other provinces. In the Shelburne dis- 

 trict, at the western end, the run commences in February 

 and ends by the 1st of July, and the season is progressively 

 later as you follow the Atlantic coast to the eastward. In 

 the Cobequid district, on the Bay of Fundy side, it begins 

 in early June, and continues until September. The average 

 weight of the fish is about twelve pounds, though a few are 

 taken larger. 



Sea-trout or tide-trout commence to run up the rivers at 

 the end of June, and the sport to be enjoyed in the estuaries 

 at that season is of the most exciting character. The fish 

 average about three pounds in weight, and when well hooked, 

 will test the dexterity of the angler and the strength of his 

 tackle to the utmost. They are the most shapely and 

 beautiful of the Salmo family, and equal to any of his con- 

 geners for delicacy of flavor. By the middle of August the 

 run is over, and if caught at all after that time, they are far 

 up stream. While some anglers insist that the sea-trout 

 and brook-trout {Salmo fontinalis) are identical, others 

 declare that the sea-trout never leaves salt water. I have 

 frequently taken them in Gold Elver, Nova Scotia, as far 

 up the stream as Beech Hill, which is several miles above 

 its mouth, with two series of considerable falls intervening. 

 In the same river I have taken on the same day, the 1st of 

 July, a salmon, a grilse, a sea-trout, and a speckled or brook- 

 trout, loitJiotct changing my casting stand. Lay them side 

 by side, and there is no difficulty in estabUshing the identity 



