Fishing at Bent Lake, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  Out in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, sits Bent Lake. Salt water lies 14 km off. It covers about 5 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Nearest town is Antigonish, 51 km off. Stellarton follows at 67 km, then New Glasgow at 68 km. Close neighbours run: Gregwell Lake within 0.9 km, Snows Lake a shade over 1.8 km, Devils Lake within 2.6 km, Marys Lake a shade over 3.9 km and Round Lake within 4.2 km. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Bent Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Public occurrence data for Guysborough County names alewife, American eel, brook trout and Atlantic salmon. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Fish Bent Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, August reads 18°C and February reads -6°C. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around mid April. Average temperatures cross freezing around mid April in spring and again near late December in autumn. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. On Bent Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. 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. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Gregwell Lake, 0.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. For Bent Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.