Fishing Bates Lake in Kings County, New Brunswick

• Overview

  Set in Kings County, Bates Lake is a New Brunswick water. It sits 4 km in from the sea. At about 20 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Roughly 2.3 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. It is low-lying compared with other New Brunswick water we list. For supplies, Nauwigewauk is 6.9 km out. Dartmouth sits 210 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Bates Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Time trips to the tide table rather than the clock here. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Records held for Kings County cover alewife, Atlantic salmon, Atlantic cod and yellow perch. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Fish Bates Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 18°C in July and bottom out at -8°C in January. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Ice-out usually falls in mid April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages place the thaw at mid April and the freeze at early December. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. Bates Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. You will be walking about 830 m from the nearest car park. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Scribner Lake at 2.6 km is the sensible second choice. Nothing here settles the position at Bates Lake for certain.