Fishing MacDonalds Small Lake in Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  This water sits in Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia. The surface lies 90 metres up. The water measures roughly 2 hectares, so nothing here is far from anything else. On size it sits at the modest end of our Cape Breton County list. Supplies mean a trip to Marion Bridge, 7.1 km off. Sydney sits 22 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on MacDonalds Small Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Records held for Cape Breton County cover striped bass, Atlantic salmon, alewife, American eel and brook trout. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On MacDonalds Small Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -6°C in February to roughly 18°C in August. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Once it clears, about late April, the fishing comes on quickly. The season between ice runs from about late April to late December. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. That shapes the year on MacDonalds Small Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. MacKinnon Lake at 1 km is the sensible second choice. Where MacDonalds Small Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.