Fishing at Upper Caribou Lake, Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  Upper Caribou Lake is listed under Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. This is lake country bush country. Small at around 5 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Compared with other Nova Scotia water on our list, it sits high. For supplies, Stellarton is 41 km out. The nearest city of size is Dartmouth, 93 km away. The boundary is close enough to be worth checking before you fish.

• Where to Fish on Upper Caribou Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Open biodiversity records for Halifax Regional Municipality list brook trout, alewife and rainbow smelt. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. Read Upper Caribou Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -7°C to 18°C. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about late April until roughly mid December. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Time your trip to Upper Caribou Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. 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. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. If the gate is shut, Lower Caribou Lake at 0.5 km is the nearest alternative. What applies at Upper Caribou Lake may have changed since it was mapped.