I finally had the chance to do some saltwater fishing here in Nova Scotia. I met up with my buddy Craig who lives out on Black Point in St Margaret’s Bay around noon on Sunday. I’ve been listening to Craig talk about the bucket fulls of mackerel he’s been catching this summer, so I figured I should check it out before it gets too cold. We launched from the shore of his uncles house and headed out toward deeper water. The map doesn’t really justify how massive the bay is, especially when you are sitting in a 14 foot aluminum boat.
Craig didn’t waste any time, catching a small mackerel on the first cast, which was released after a few photos. Its not uncommon to catch 3-4 mackerel at a time when you can find a big school of fish, but we really had a hard time finding them. We covered a lot of water drifting and then we headed out to fish around the small islands within the bay. We’d heard reports of mackerel being caught in the area yesterday, but as fate would have it, all the fish had moved on. It wasn’t until we were heading back to the launch that we came across some more fish. I thought I had snagged some sea weed, but it turned out to be three good size mackerel, at the same time, including the biggest of the day. Craig also caught a couple more fish before we motored back. It wasn’t the best day of fishing, but a great time was definitely had by all. I’ll definitely be heading out again as soon as I can.
So the locals here in Halifax are in a bit of a frenzy about hurricane Bill. The current path of the storm has it landing directly on Nova Scotia sometime on Sunday with winds up to 120km. Nova Scotia was last hit by Juan in 2004 and there was massive damage. Being born, and having spent significant time in the Caribbean, I’m no stranger to hurricanes, but it never hurts to be prepared, so stock up on water at the very least. Chances are the hurricane will have lost a a lot of its power by the time it reaches me, but Bermuda is feeling the effects as we speak. Hopefully everyone down there is prepared.
So I’ve been taking my son Ash fishing with me regularly since April. He’s got a solid grasp on reeling even though he isn’t even two years old yet. He has never caught a fish by himself so we went fishing for a few hours yesterday to try and get his first fish. Its was pretty hot out, so we stuck to deep drop offs and he finally hooked into a fish by himself! He hooked into a nice little bass and I could tell he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the whole event. I’m sure it didn’t help that I was running around madly to get the camera. The moment I started recording the event he decided he was done and simply put the rod down on the ground and stepped back. Luckily, the bass wasn’t big enough to take the rod into the drink. I picked up the rod and the fish shook lose – so close!
I managed to sneak out on opening day here in Nova Scotia. I didn’t have a lot of time, and I had my son Ash with me, so I had to make sure I went somewhere where I knew I could get into some trout without spending an entire day fishing (although I really wish I could have fished all day!). My destination of choice was a small creek near the highway that had produced a few little trout last year. It was really the only viable choice since all of the nearby lakes still have a thick layer of ice on them. Water levels were very high thanks to the recent melt of last weeks snowstorm.
After a short walk though the woods exploring, we ended up at the side of the highway fishing in a ditch. I saw several small trout after casting a #2 silver Mepps Aglia spinner, and within a few more casts I landed the first and only fish of the day, a beautiful little brook trout. My son Ash was super excited to see the fish, trout are one of the 10 or so fish he can name on sight, but this was the first he had seen in real life. After he had a chance to touch the fish, I told he it was time let let him go home and we released him back into the cold water.
I’ve lived in a lot of different places, but Halifax Nova Scotia has the worst drivers by far. I think it can be blamed on the fact that most of the people in the city grew up out in the country and simply don’t know how to drive in a city with more then 13 cars. In the winter things are particularly bad. Not only are there bad drivers, but the snow removal is pitiful. Of course, the only thing worse then the snow removal is the giant pot-holes all over every major road.
I could go on about the driving here, but instead I think these photos I took Friday morning sum things up pretty well.
The sky, now turning from a pale grey to a wondrous blue in announcement of the rapidly approaching sun illuminated our mountainous silhouette surroundings. As the sun ascended over the mountain tops the desert awoke reaching upwards with an infinite number of cacti fingers. It was a marvelous spectacle to watch as small flocks of birds darted out of their nests and larger predatory birds appeared soring above. It was as if that single ray of sunshine swept the desert with a breath of extraordinary life.
