Every spring there are reports that anglers are using live minnows to take brook trout from local lakes. Usually, the trout are good (meaning in the one and two-pound range) and generally I can confirm that the trout were caught, where they were taken and that minnows were used for bait.

This is usually as far as it goes, however. I find that some anglers are reluctant to talk to me, and not because they don’t want their name in the paper or they don’t want to reveal where they’ve been fishing. These reluctant and uncooperative anglers are generally the ones who have been fishing with live minnows, perhaps because they realize they’ve fished illegally and would rather not talk about it.

Since in some circumstances the use of live minnows in lakes and streams is prohibited, it’s understandable that anglers are reluctant to talk about their activities. Those “circumstances” are clearly spelled out in regulations summary that angers receive when they buy a license. On page 24 of this booklet, it says in effect that it is illegal to catch minnows or any baitfish in one piece of water and move them to another piece of water, for the purpose of fishing or for any other purpose for that matter.

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A streamside problem that confronts most fishermen one time or another is what action to take when feeding trout refuse lures and flies. The angling experts say there’s a simple solution: Examine the contents of a trout’s stomach, determine what it is feeding on, and then fish accordingly.

Angling writers great and small have offered this apparently sagacious advice at one time or another but to me it’s fallacious. If trout refuse to take everything you throw at them, how do you catch one to examine the contents of its stomach?

I threw this conundrum at a friend recently; he told me what he tried last year when Stillwater brookies were rising steadily and ignoring his flies. He found a feeder stream where small trout were less finicky, caught a couple, and discovered they were feeding on a small, greenish nymph. While he had nothing in his fly box resembling the nymph, he was well-prepared the next time he fished the Stillwater.

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The Serviceberry is the first shrub to flower in spring. In this and other areas the Serviceberry is also called the Shadbush, perhaps because of the folk tale that it flowers at the time shad run. I’ve read that Indians told settlers about a mystical connection between the Shadbush and the fish; this shad legend may have originated with our native people.

While flowering of Serviceberries and shad runs may not be related, you can be sure that by the time the plant blossoms the fish will be running. Since early January, in fact, shad have been running up rivers feeding into the Atlantic Ocean. Anglers here are among the last to enjoy the angling the shad runs offer. The runs begin in waters off Florida early in the year and move up the Atlantic coast to our rivers. I looked into shad fishing on the Internet recently and discovered that anglers already were fishing the shad runs in Florida in late December.

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You won’t believe this,” Granny, the household’s unofficial head announced. “I found a dandelion in bloom on our lawn.”

The date the dandelion bloomed was April 21. After she checked her home diary, Granny told me that last year it was May 13 before the first dandelion blossomed. Granny concluded from her observation of the dandelion that spring was “early” this year. That same day on a radio show I heard an agricultural expert advising farmers that the season was a good two weeks earlier than last year.

I really didn’t need dandelions or farming conditions to determine that we may be having what old-timers called an “early fishing spring.” Several days before the solitary dandelion blossom was spotted, I had spent a disappointing afternoon on a local trout stream. Usually by mid-April fishing conditions on the stream are ideal and it yields a feed or two of pink brookies. This year I missed the prime time, by at least a week and maybe more. Water levels in the stream were already low – at what they would normally be in mid or late May – when I fished it on April 18.

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Anglers who rejoiced when the thermometer reached record-breaking levels in late March must have been in shock on April Fool’s Day, the first day of the fishing season in western Nova Scotia.

In the early morning hours of April 1, the thermometer plummeted at least 30 degrees (on the Fahrenheit scale) and a storm front moved in. By first light, it was cold, dank, drizzly and apparently unfit for fishing. I knew from experience, however, that unless another ice storm knocked us for a loop, somebody would be out fishing somewhere on opening day.

To prove to myself that I was right, and to get a few quotable insights from hardy early season anglers, I donned woollies and waterfowl coat and drove into the country. The route I took along Brooklyn Street runs parallel to the Cornwallis River for several miles. The Cornwallis is favoured by early season anglers and usually someone fishes it on opening day. Sure enough, just above tidewater I spotted a lone angler gearing up beside his vehicle.

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“I don’t give a hoot what anyone says, it ain’t spring until the worms rise or the smelts start to run,” old Manny used to say.

The neighbourhood loafabout, who seemed to have nothing to do but fish, hunt and trap, made this observation when we asked if we could dig for bait in the manure pile back of his barn. We had skipped school on a late April afternoon to fish a nearby brook, ignoring the foot or so of snow and the ice that was still in. When we stopped for worms at Manny’s, he reminded us that we still had winter conditions. “Look around,” he said. “You gotta be crazy to go fishing when the weather’s like this.”

“But it’s spring and the fishing season’s open,” we protested.

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It was my first wildlife association meeting in five or six years and there were many people I didn’t recognize.

Scott Cook was one of the familiar faces. A longtime supporter of the Kings County wildlife association and a staunch conservationist, Scott has been president of the group for several terms and is a 25-year member. He took the floor in this capacity when the meeting got underway, calling upon another longtime association supporter and 25-year member, Paul Rogers, to read the minutes.

After treasurer George Bullen informed the group they were in sound financial condition and Jim Haverstock did a sales pitch for hats – it’s a given that wildlife association members must have hats with club emblems on them! – the meeting got down to the real purpose for everyone being there. From one end of the province to the other, wildlife associations support various conservation efforts – stocking, fishing and hunting regulations, water enhancement programs, all are grist for association mills – and as I listened I learned that the Kings County group is involved in many projects.

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On numerous occasions, I’ve mentioned in this column that the Digby East Wildlife Association has been lobbying for the introduction of wild turkeys. The Association has been pushing for at least 15 years for the turkey introduction, instigating a feasibility study and investing considerable time and money.

It appears to have been a fruitless exercise. While I’m not familiar with the full story, it seems that even though the Association has provided evidence wild turkeys would thrive, it has been thumbs down from the government. A recent letter from an Association member said they’ve had no success with efforts to interest the province in turkey stocking. The tone of the letter tells me there are a lot of frustrated people in Digby County.

From what I’ve read about wild turkeys and pheasants, I’ve concluded that they can thrive in similar habitat. While this is the opinion of an armchair biologist and non- expert, I’ve also noticed that there are healthy populations of wild turkeys in areas with habitat and climate similar to Nova Scotia. Many people are convinced that wild turkeys would do nicely if stocked here but only the Digby East Association has been active – or at least the most visible – in seeking an introduction.

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