VOL. LXXXVI 
JUNE, 1916 
No. 6 
SUMMER TROUTING IN NOVA SCOTIA 
IN THIS FAVORED REGION YOU CAN TAKE FONTINALIS AS A FRESH 
WATER FISH OR AS A RETURNING VISITOR FROM THE SEA 
T AKEN section by section or in its entirety, 
it would be equally difficult to find a more 
charming setting for the exercise of this 
favorite sport than Nova Scotia affords. From 
Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island on the 
north to Yarmouth County on the south, there 
stretches a practically uninterrupted area of lakes 
and streams, a veritable maze of connecting or 
almost connecting waters all of which without 
exception, as far as the writer is aware, are in¬ 
habited by at least one species of trout. Simi¬ 
larly a wonderfully divergent and interesting 
country greets the explorer on every hand. It 
is true that with the exception of a few spots 
like the Annapolis valley and parts of Prince 
Edward Island which are under cultivation, 
practically the entire province is a continuous 
wilderness. This in itself, however, cannot but 
add to the allurement of trout fishing as well as 
to its permanent excellence, and when the rugged 
beauty of the Bras d’Or and the southwest shore 
or the picturesque charm of the barrens and for¬ 
ests of the east has once got into your blood, it 
will, I think, be as difficult for you to keep away 
from Nova Scotia trout-fishing as it would be 
for me. 
But in spite of the uniform excellence of both 
the quantity and quality of the Nova Scotia fish¬ 
ing, there is here as elsewhere a great choice in 
times and places. There are also various local 
conditions that can only be met by local experi¬ 
ence, and this is perhaps more true of this unique 
litle peninsula than of any place with which the 
writer is familiar. It is such matters as these 
that I wish briefly to touch upon here, hoping 
that the benefit of a number of happy years spent 
in the Nova Scotia woods may be of some bene¬ 
fit in adding to the enjoyment of others less fa¬ 
miliar with that delightful country. 
In the first place Nova Scotia can not be said 
to be as remarkable for the size of its trout as 
for their numbers. There are certainly locali¬ 
ties like the Rangeleys in Maine, some of the riv¬ 
ers of the north shore of Lake Superior and 
many of the streams of Labrador, Newfound¬ 
land and New Brunswick, where trout unques¬ 
tionably attain a greater size than those in Nova 
Scotia, but, on the other hand, it would be hard 
indeed to find a district where trout are more 
By Ellwood Colahan. 
numerous. Some of the inland lakes of the prov¬ 
ince which are inaccessible to the larger towns 
and villages, must indeed contain fabulous num¬ 
bers of trout. In the spring of the year they may 
The Rugged Character of the Nova Scotia 
Scenery Is a Constant Source of Delight to 
the Visitor. 
oft'm ''e Lken in twos and threes at every cast 
until the angler (or fisherman) is satiated with 
the sport. 
But of course such luck need not be expected 
on the beaten track (for even Nova Scotia now 
has its beaten tracks and is constantly getting 
more of them), nor off it for that matter, unless 
the proper season is chosen. 
And this leads us to perhaps the most import¬ 
ant of all questions connected with trout fishing 
-—the matter of the season when the wilful little 
beauties will take it into their heads to rise to 
the fly. 
It has been wisely noted by no less an authority 
than Sir Isaac himself, that fishes and ladies are 
worthy of comparison, and among the many 
points which they have in common, such as being 
cold blooded and difficult to catch, not the least 
noticeable is the settled rule that they are not 
actuated by reason, and one never knows exactly 
what they will do or why they will do it. 
Unquestionably, as far as purely fresh water 
brook trout are concerned, the New England 
angler will find his experiences duplicated in 
Nova Scotia, excepting always that at any time 
he will find more fish in Nova Scotia. From the 
“going out” of the ice in April to the middle of 
June is the gala season. May is perhaps the most 
all round satisfactory month. From the middle 
of June to the middle of August, things slacken 
up decidedly, and altho there are many places 
where trout may always be taken, the fishing in 
most places is confined to high water, stormy 
days, or places where cold brooks and springs 
empty into the larger and warmer waters. Usu¬ 
ally between the middle of August and the first 
of September, the trout which have to a great 
extent sought only the deeper and cooler places, 
begin to look to the surface again for their prey, 
roused by the cooling water and the instinct of 
propagation which must be fortified by food. In¬ 
deed, the September fishing is frequently almost 
as good as that in the early spring; and it may 
be taken for granted that the wonderful beauty 
of the woods in either season will form no small 
portion of any angler’s enjoyment. 
But for the great majority of men the most 
available vacation time is the mid-summer season 
from the middle of June to the end of August. 
This is peculiarly unfortunate for the trout fish¬ 
erman who finds himself almost the only_ sports¬ 
man unrepresented in the great annual migration 
to shore, mountain and stream. But he. must 
either have spent his vacation thigh deep in the 
