Ethel Lake Fishing Guide, Victoria County, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  Set in Victoria County, Ethel Lake is a Nova Scotia water. Everything around it is rolling bush. Small at around 7 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. For supplies, Ingonish is 59 km out. For a city, Sydney is 119 km off. Within easy reach: Lena Lake lies 1 km on, MacEacherns Lake roughly 40 km, Griffins Lake lies 41 km on, Paquets Lake roughly 47 km and Effies Lake lies 48 km on. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Ethel Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Reported across Victoria County: Atlantic salmon, striped bass, alewife, brook trout and American eel. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Ethel Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -6°C in February to roughly 17°C in August. Hard water is a season in its own right here. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. The season between ice runs from about late April to late December. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. On Ethel Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. St. Paul Island National Wildlife Area runs up to the bank here, which usually means extra restrictions. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. For a change of water, Lena Lake is 1 km distant. None of that is settled for Ethel Lake in what we hold.