Fishing North Branch Lake in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  Set in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, this is North Branch Lake. It sits at 67 metres above sea level. It measures some 1.32 sq km, and wind has room to build across it. The shoreline runs about 10 km, so it pays to pick a stretch and stay with it. Few waters listed in Guysborough County are bigger. For supplies, Antigonish is 35 km out. After that come Port Hawkesbury at 37 km and Princeville at 53 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on North Branch Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Species logged across Guysborough County include alewife, American eel, brook trout and Atlantic salmon. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. North Branch Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -7°C to 18°C. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. The season between ice runs from about late April to late December. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Expect North Branch Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. For a change of water, Kellys Lake is 1.5 km distant. Signs at North Branch Lake carry more weight than any list.