270 
FOREST 
AND 
STREAM 
Sea Trout of the Eastern Provinces 
Little Known Nooks of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Where Primeval Conditions Prevail and 
Lots of Fish are Found 
ERTAINLY the most popular 
vacation time and often the only 
available one is the mid-summer 
season from the middle of 
June to the end of August. 
While this is unfortunate for 
our ordinary brook-trout fish¬ 
erman it is ideal for the man 
who goes after the great silver-clad, sea-going 
Fontinalis that sweep into and up the picturesque 
rivers of the Maritime Provinces during these 
beautiful months. 
As a game fish volumes could be and ought to 
be written about the Canadian sea-trout. His 
temporary sojourn in the salt water seems to 
serve as a remarkably invigorating stimulant 
which applied to the natural vigor of the Salve- 
linus (for such he undoubtedly is) renders him 
a perfect paragon of activity. With this in¬ 
crease of vitality comes also a corresponding in¬ 
crease in size and in many of the New Bruns¬ 
wick streams great salmon-like trout of five or 
six pounds are by no means unusual. In the 
writer’s opinion the sea-trout is not only with¬ 
out a peer but without an equal as a sporting 
fish, given a fair comparison of weight and 
tackle, though perhaps some allowance should 
be made for the wholesome prejudice that ex¬ 
ists in the heart of every honest angler. 
The methods of fishing for sea-trout vary 
greatly with the nature, size and location of the 
stream to be fished. New Brunswick and Nova 
Scotia, for instance, present such contrasting 
problems for the angler’s consideration that it is 
convenient to speak of each separately. First, 
then, for Nova Scotia. 
This charming, rock-bound, little peninsula is 
only from forty to sixty miles in width with a 
highish backbone in the middle which renders 
the streams both short and rapid. The water is 
the deep, clear amber color so familiar to the 
hearts of many of our anglers, with frequent 
pools, innumerable ponds and lakes and invari¬ 
able long, meandering “still waters” between 
rapids where the stream drifts lazily through 
one of the numerous marshes of wet, inoffensive 
arctic moss and caribou grass, so typical of the 
Nova Scotia woods. Here the water deepens 
and blackens and here and here only the sea- 
trout are to be found. In the more remote and 
inaccessible streams the number of trout in 
these places is well nigh unbelievable, although 
they do not rival their New Brunswick brethren 
in size. It is absolutely a waste of time, how¬ 
ever, to fish the rough water or the rocky pools 
between rapids, no matter how likely the places 
may seem—although each angler usually prefers 
to convince himself of the truth of this asser¬ 
tion the first day out, returning to face the 
quiet smile of his guide with perhaps more ex¬ 
perience than fish 
By Ellwood Colahan. 
Of all the Nova Scotia sea-trout rivers, those 
of the barren, God-forsaken northeast shore, 
between Halifax and Sydney, are the best. Many 
of these streams flow through impenetrable 
wildernesses and are extremely difficult to fish. 
They are practically unknown to sportsmen and 
offer, perhaps, the nearest approach to aborigi¬ 
nal conditions to be found in the Maritime 
Provinces. The banks of the still-waters are 
often densely overgrown with bushes and ald¬ 
ers so that one can scarcely force one’s way 
through them, but the wetter places usually af¬ 
ford good stands. Boats and canoes are very 
rarely to be had. There are usually trails along 
the lower reaches of the rivers, but in August 
and September when the fish have gone up one 
must literally fight one’s way. A tent is useful, 
and, although one is always wet, either rubber 
boots or waders are utterly impossible. The 
writer prefers ordinary tennis-shoes with corru¬ 
gated soles or light moccasins which stick to the 
rocks and don’t become water logged, but this 
is a personal whim. 
Although licensed guides are rare on the east 
shore they may be found on some of the larger 
rivers, and in a few of the better known places 
such as Muscadoboit, Quoddy Ecum Secum and 
St. Mary’s, small camps and boats are provided. 
One may always, however, find a native who will 
know the stream thoroughly and who will 
usually be diligent and obliging. The rates are 
cheaper here than any other place in Canada, 
guides receiving from one dollar to two dollars 
per day, and board (if one attain to such a 
luxury) being even less. Among the best sea- 
trout streams on the east shore may be men¬ 
tioned the following: Muscadoboit, Cole Har¬ 
bor, Petpeswick, Tangier, Quoddy, Sheet Hai- 
bor, Half-way Brook, Moser’s River, Smith 
Brook, Ecum Secum, Saint Mary’s, Isaac’s Har¬ 
bor and vicinity, and the neighborhood of Guys- 
boro’. The first mentioned place is some six¬ 
teen miles from Halifax and may be reached by 
stage from there. In June large sea-trout are 
caught in the salt water about the mouth of the 
river on both minnow and fly. 
In most of the more remote rivers where the 
sport is usually confined to the much more de¬ 
lightful art of bank fishing in fresh water the 
best months are July and August. At Qucddy, 
eighty miles from Halifax, one can enjoy fine 
fresh water sea-trout fishing with guides, boats 
and camp. The trout average from one-half to 
two pounds with an occasional one on the bet¬ 
ter side of those limits as well as a stray salmon 
now and then. This is one of the few places >n 
the east shore where one can combine sea-trout 
fishing with comfort, for it is usually safe to say 
that one sacrifices in either what one gains in 
the other. This principle is well illustrated by 
the glorious fishing to be had around Moser’s 
River, Isaac’s Harbor and eastward where one 
must be a veritable Indian in order to keep in 
the game. The best way to reach these different 
points on the east shore is by boat from Halifax. 
Two or three little boats (all different owners) 
ply along the two hundred odd miles of barren, 
deserted coast and afford an accessible if some¬ 
what rough and ready nmans of transportation. 
Fortunately, for the angler, there are no rail¬ 
roads in this part of the Province, the popula¬ 
tion being limited to a few tiny fishing and lum¬ 
bering villages directly on the shore. 
Southwest of Halifax along the line of Hali¬ 
fax and Southwestern Railway, most of the 
good rivers are either preserved or arranged with 
regular camps and canoes furnished by guides. 
The fishing here is slightly earlier than in most 
other places in Nova Scotia, the best time being 
middle and late June and early July. The fish 
go up the rivers in runs and the sport is inter¬ 
mittent depending entirely upon the state of the 
water and the arrival of the fish. In many 
places in this section by far the best 'fishing is 
to be had at the mouths of the rivers in the salt 
water, and one has not the evenly good, all 
summer, fresh water fishing of the eastern rivers 
above described. 
At such places as Nine Mile River, Hubley’s, 
Indian River, Ingram River, and the neighbor¬ 
hoods of Chester, Liverpool and the Medway 
Salmon country, large sea-trout are taken spas¬ 
modically and sometimes in great numbers. The 
latter districts approximate more to the conven¬ 
tional Maine woods than anything in Nova 
Scotia, and in consequence are not nearly so 
good or so certain as the less sophisticated re¬ 
gion east of Halifax—though the fish average 
fully as large. Another charm of the west shore 
is the wonderful brook-trout fishing of the in¬ 
terior and the exceptionally fine canoe trips that 
go with it. Two dollars a day is the average 
charge of guides in this section. 
The Bay of Fundy shore of Nova Scotia 
does not afford any sea-trout fishing worth men¬ 
tioning, but very excellent sport may be enjoyed 
to the north in Cape Breton Island and Prince 
Edward Island, some of whose picturesque little 
streams fairly teem with lusty though rather 
small sea-trout. 
Information as to the sea-trout and other fish¬ 
ing throughout the entire province may be had 
by mail or otherwise from the Chief Game Com¬ 
missioner at Halifax who will willingly supply 
details as to localities and guides not easily ob¬ 
tainable elsewhere. The railroads such as the 
Intercolonial, Canadian Pacific and Halifax and 
Southwestern will also provide folders and other 
information as to the fishing along their respec¬ 
tive lines to any person applying therefor. All 
these railroads have offices in Halifax. It 
should, of course, be remembered that the game 
