Fish R., Mooseland - any info?

[Alan Wilson]

A fellow at work and I are considering a fishing trip along Fish R. from Scraggy Lake to above the falls near the back road that runs west to just east of Lake Charlotte.  My colleague has heard stories of large trout, and we want to find out for our selves.  This would be an overnight double solo trip (he in a kayak, me in a canoe).  I am too much of a moving water neofite to run anything even remotely complicated on my own.

Has anyone paddled this route?  Are there carries around the moving water?  What sort of shape might they be in?  Anyone inclined to come look into the trout situation with us?

Tentative plan is mid-June (trip in May to the Tobi, work takes me away early June).

Cheers,

Al

[Dan Hutt]

Here is a photos of a Speckled Trout caught at the head of the Fish River at the south end of Scraggy Lake. Good luck on your trip.

- Dan

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[Dusan Soudek]

Alan,

   people don’t paddle Fish River as often as they should. it is a series of stillwaters and fast sections. Some you can run, depending on the water level, and others are compulsory portages. I haven’t been there for a few years but last time I was there the portages were quite overgrown. The trout fishing was great. You can drive to Melvin Dam Flowage. Good camping at the site of an old burned-out cabin near its head. The biggest and longest rapids are at the Murchyville Road bridge and then just before Lake Charlotte.

   Dusan Soudek

[Oliver Maass]

Hi Alan,

Definitely a fun river, with lots of pool-and-run sections between stillwaters. Like many of our rivers, you will want good water levels. Last time I traveled the river about 10 years ago, I paddled solo and ran everything from Scraggy Lake to the bridge at Murchyville Road with some scouting and carrying gear several times (2 days, one night). The portages were in poor condition, as noted also by Dusan. With recent land acquisitions by the province, almost the entire river will be within Ship Harbour Long Lake Wilderness Area once the additions are legally designated - one of our wilderness gems. A caution though - I do recommend reasonable whitewater skills, or be prepared to travel slowly with numerous portages and perhaps some lining.

Starting at Melvin Dam Stillwater will mean missing close to half the river, so consider putting in at the SE end of Scraggy Lake, or even at Moose River at Moose River Gold Mines for an even longer trip.

I can walk you through some of these options over the phone if you like. You might find the following interactive map useful as a planning tool:
http://novascotia.ca/parksandprotectedareas/plan/interactive-map/
The classic Eastern Shore Lakes canoe route map published by Canoe Nova Scotia would also be very useful, even today.
Also, here is some info on Ship Harbour Long Lake Wilderness Area:
http://www.novascotia.ca/nse/protectedareas/wa_ShipHarbourLongLake.asp

Oliver Maass

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From: sou...@ns.sympatico.ca
To: paddleno...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Fish R., Mooseland - any info?
Date: Fri, 2 May 2014 20:17:44 -0300

[Alan Wilson]

Thanks for the info all
Cheers,
Al

[Alan Wilson]

[Alan Wilson]

Life being what it is, we are now aiming at mid-August.  I have a feeling that there will be a lot of carrying.  One the plus side, they all look fairly short.  Updates as they are available . . .
Al

[cbif...@eastlink.ca]

In mid august you could probably walk down any rapids.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Rogers network.

From: Alan Wilson Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 20:26 To: paddleno...@googlegroups.com Reply To: aw.nova...@gmail.com Cc: sou...@ns.sympatico.ca; biom...@hotmail.com

Subject: Re: Fish R., Mooseland - any info?

Life being what it is, we are now aiming at mid-August.  I have a feeling that there will be a lot of carrying.  One the plus side, they all look fairly short.  Updates as they are available . . .
Al

[Dusan Soudek]

Alan,

  August is the time to paddle lakes and coastal waters in N.S. It is extremely unlikely, although not impossible, that there will be any water in the rapids on Fish River. Consider fishing the outlet of Scraggy Lake, the inlet and the outlet of Melvin Dam Flowage, or the stillwaters just downstream of the Murchyville Road bridge rapid. The river dowstream of here consists of stillwaters separated by very short runs, which you can line or wade. A great campsite on the island between the two channels just downstream of The Pughole, but watch out for the Poison Ivy. 

   Dusan Soudek

 

 

From: Alan Wilson

Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 8:25 PM

To: paddleno...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: Fish R., Mooseland - any info?

 

[Rob Tibbo]

Hi Al,

 

I looked into doing the same trip earlier in the spring.  The still waters are fine but there are a few portages along the way.  Where the water is so low right now the portages may be a bit longer.  The largest portage is right before you get to the bridge on the Merkyville rd.  There will be about a half km portage.  I was told there could be some blow down to watch out for as well.  I hear the fishing is great. From Scraggy lake dam to the Merkyville bridge is about 13 km.  I would like to go myself. Make sure you have bug jackets J

Regards,

Rob Tibbo
Technical Specialist
EnviroSeal Engineering Products Ltd.
Ph:  (902) 861-3464
Fax: (902) 861-3522
Toll Free: 1-800-884-7325 (North America only)
www.enviroseal.ca

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From: paddleno...@googlegroups.com [mailto:paddleno...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Alan Wilson
Sent: June-16-14 8:26 PM
To: paddleno...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Fish R., Mooseland - any info?

 

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