Southern Cape Breton · Strait of Canso · Isle Madame · Bras d'Or Lake · 45.6° N 61.0° W

Strait and Bras d'Or Fishing Map

Pick a month, see the good legal shore spots, open one and get directions. 28 spots within reach of St. Peter's and Cleveland.

For Darrell, who never needed a reason to go fishing. Tight lines in 2027.

2026 rulescheck the 2027 Anglers' Handbook in April

Month
Water
Drive from

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Drive times are free-flow estimates: add 10–20%.

What's biting when

Species by month across the area, under 2026 rules. Light bars are good months, dark bars are peaks. Peaks are often guide reports or regional biology rather than local counts: the evidence class is under each name.

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Rules everywhere

These apply at every spot on the map, on top of the spot's own season and limits. 2026 rules; the 2027 handbook and DFO orders are expected from about April 2027.

Licences

  • Tidal (salt) water: no licence, but seasons, limits and gear rules still apply. Exception: Battery Provincial Park asks for a NS sport fishing licence on its shore.
  • Inland (fresh) water: a NS General Fishing Licence from age 16. Carry one for Bras d'Or trout too.
  • Atlantic salmon: a separate NS Salmon Licence, sold online only, for the few open salmon rivers.

Licence-free days in 2027 if the rule repeats: Feb 13–15 and Jun 5–6 (not for salmon). Buy online: General · Salmon.

Never from a bridge

No angling from any bridge in Nova Scotia. The ticket is $200.

Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations s.15(a).

23 m below fishways

Nothing within 23 m below any fishway, obstruction or leap: fish ladders, dams and road culverts. Fishery officers enforced this at the Grand River fish ladder in June 2026.

Fisheries Act s.34.3(4)(e).

No night fishing for sport fish

No angling for trout, salmon or smallmouth bass from 2 hours after sunset to 2 hours before sunrise. In inland water, no angling of any kind from 22:00 to 06:00.

Invasive fish

Keep every smallmouth bass and chain pickerel you catch. Never move live fish, dump bait, or use perch, bass, pickerel, bullhead, goldfish or crayfish as bait. Report new invasive fish: 902-485-5056.

Atlantic salmon

Catch-and-release only, barbless fly, on the few open rivers (the Margaree system, the Middle, Baddeck and lower North rivers, and the West, South and Mabou rivers in season). Closed everywhere else: River Inhabitants is closed all year. Release any salmon at once, and any parr you can't tell from a trout: if you don't know, let it go.

Elvers are banned

Anglers may not fish for elvers (glass eels): unauthorised harvest or possession is illegal. Adult American eels are Threatened (COSEWIC), so please release them.

Report poaching

  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)1-800-565-1633, ext. 6
  • NS Natural Resources1-800-565-2224
  • Crime Stoppers1-800-222-8477

DFO: report a fisheries violation

Safety

  • Tides and currents. The Strait of Canso (reported up to about 5 knots) and Lennox Passage run hard. Check the CHS tide predictions for Port Hawkesbury, Point Tupper or Cannes, fish from shore, and never wade or paddle the narrows.
  • Ice. Stay off clear ice thinner than 10 cm. Treat white ice, and any ice over current or tidal water, including the Bras d'Or, as unsafe. Stop once the spring thaw starts.
  • Hunting season. Wear hunter orange in the woods from mid-September to December. The general deer season should run about Oct 29–Dec 11, 2027, with Sunday hunting allowed.

Inland closed season

In fresh water you may not angle for anything, perch included, unless a sport fish season is open there. Most lakes close Oct 1–Mar 31; only listed all-year waters stay open.