Gillis Lake Fishing Guide, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  In Nova Scotia, Gillis Lake belongs to Antigonish County. It sits in mixed forest country. It is pond-in-a-field scale, with the far bank a short lob away. Most waters listed here for Antigonish County are larger. Supplies mean a trip to Antigonish, 15 km off. Further out sit Port Hawkesbury (50 km) and New Glasgow (54 km). This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Gillis Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Survey and observation records for Antigonish County include American eel, striped bass, brook trout and alewife. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Read Gillis Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect August to average close to 18°C, with February the cold end at about -7°C. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. The lid tends to go about late April and return around mid December. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. At Gillis Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Boyds Lake sits 3.7 km off and takes the overflow. None of that is settled for Gillis Lake in what we hold.