West Loon Lake Fishing near Stellarton, Nova Scotia

• Overview

  Set in Guysborough County, West Loon Lake is a Nova Scotia water. Around the bank it is lake country bush. Roughly 32 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The edge runs 3.1 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Size puts it in the front rank of our Guysborough County list. Stellarton is the closest town at 33 km. It is 94 km to Dartmouth, the nearest city. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on West Loon Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. 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. Records held for Guysborough County cover alewife, American eel, brook trout, Atlantic salmon and blueback herring. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Work West Loon Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -7°C to 18°C. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. Average temperatures cross freezing around late April in spring and again near mid December in autumn. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to West Loon Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. A platform or pier sits within 1.3 km. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Nelson Lake at 1.1 km is the sensible second choice. For West Loon Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.