Fishing at McKinnon Lake, Pictou County, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  McKinnon Lake belongs to Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The ground round it is rolling bush. The water covers some 31 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Shoreline comes to about 3.6 km, small enough to learn in a day. Size puts it in the front rank of our Pictou County list. Head to Stellarton, 24 km away, for anything you forgot. Then New Glasgow, 26 km, and Westville, 27 km. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on McKinnon Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Survey and observation records for Pictou County include American eel, rainbow smelt, alewife, Atlantic salmon and striped bass. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On McKinnon Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 18°C; the cold one sits at -7°C. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. Open water usually runs from late April until about mid December. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Plan around that when you fish McKinnon Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Duck Lake, 1.7 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Where McKinnon Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.