Otter Lake Fishing, W of Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  In Nova Scotia, Otter Lake belongs to Halifax Regional Municipality. The sea is 7.1 km distant. It covers about 4 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Halifax Regional Municipality list. Start from Musquodoboit Harbour, 24 km down the road. Porters Lake is 38 km and Lake Echo 43 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Otter Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Fish documented in Halifax Regional Municipality include brook trout, alewife, rainbow smelt and American eel. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Anyone new to Otter Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -6°C and August at about 18°C, the water has a wide range to work through. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around mid April. Open water usually runs from mid April until about mid December. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. The season on Otter Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. The nearest alternative is Squirrel Lake, 0.9 km out. Ask locally about Otter Lake if anything is unclear.