Fishing

Fishing has played a significant role historically in Kejimkujik, from the traditional food gathering of the Mi’kmaq to the guided fishing trips of the resort era. Fishing continues to be an important activity in this area. Kejimkujik’s rivers provide excellent spring trout fishing.

Parks Canada strives to provide high quality angling experiences focusing on fish conservation, education, and enjoyment of the park environment. The fish management program at Kejimkujik supports the protection and conduct of research in aquatic biodiversity, habitats, and natural processes.

When can I fish in the park?

April 1 to August 31

Fishing regulations

In 2018, Parks Canada confirmed the presence of the invasive Chain pickerel in the park’s aquatic ecosystem. Chain pickerel are a predatory fish that can have significant negative effects on freshwater ecosystems. In additional to preying directly on Brook trout, they also out-compete trout for food resources. For this reason, new Kejimkujik sport fishing rules were introduced in 2019.

New rules:

1. All non-invasive fish are catch and release only
2. Mandatory retention of invasive fish
3. All tackle may only include one barbless hook
4. No person shall use natural bait of any kind, including earthworms

Additional information is included in the Sportfish Management and Protection information which comes with your fishing permit.

Fishing permit

A National Park Fishing Permit is required to fish in Kejimkujik. This is completely independent of a provincial fishing license.

You can purchase either a daily permit or a seasonal permit.

This permit extends to accompanying youth under 16 years old.

See prices

Where do I get a fishing permit?

Kejimkujik fishing permits will be available at the Visitor Centre as of Victoria Day Weekend.

Permits will be available at the following locations until then (and throughout the season):

• Mary Lake Home Hardware (Caledonia)
• Milford House (South Milford) (as of May long weekend)
• Lequille Country Store (Lequille, near Annapolis Royal)
• Woods Wise Outfitters (Oakhill, near Bridgewater)
• MacPherson’s Tackle Shop (Liverpool)
• The Trail Shop (Halifax)

What are my responsibilities as an angler at Kejimkujik?

Climate change, pollutants, intensive fishing, and the introduction of exotic or invasive species threaten Kejimkujik’s freshwater fish populations. Brook trout are particularly susceptible to these threats and are an ideal indicator of the ecological integrity of the whole freshwater ecosystem. Parks Canada’s research and management strategies at Kejimkujik focus on maintaining a healthy and viable Brook trout population throughout Kejimkujik’s watersheds. 

We ask anglers to participate in our fish management program in the following ways:

Observe all applicable fishing regulations. Familiarize yourself with the regulations by reading our Sportfish Management and Protection information included with your fishing license. Copies are available at the Visitor Centre and at Jake's Landing.

Be our eyes on the Kejimkujik waterways! Help us with our fish monitoring by keeping an eye out for invasive species and tagged Brook trout. Information about species identification and how to spot a tagged trout are included with your fishing license, as well as an angler diary so you can record and report your findings.

How else can I help?

Volunteer with us!

Stay tuned for a volunteer information session in early May!

Return your Angler Diary.

Included with every fishing permit is an information package and Angler Diary for you to record your hours spent and area fished, including species and number of fish caught. This information is invaluable to our fish management program contributing significantly to our understanding of angling effort in the park, relative species abundance and is also becoming a very important element of our invasive fish monitoring program.

Last year the diaries captured 917 hours of effort that had previously gone unrecorded in the park. As a thank you, each returned diary receives a commemorative Kejimkujik Fish Management Volunteer Researcher crest with a unique design each year for you to collect and wear proudly. No training is required.

Help with our Creel Census.

We are always seeking experienced volunteer fly fishers to join the Creel Census team. Every five years, for a 3-year period, a creel census is conducted at Kejimkujik which helps to assess fish health, and fish management initiatives by measuring the abundance of Brook trout. 2022 is the first year of our 3-year Creel Census monitoring program.

We provide training and measuring equipment for data collection. The key measurements in the census are catch per unit effort, or how many trout an experienced angler can catch in one hour of fishing, so significant fly fishing experience is essential for volunteers. We also measure length and weight of a subset of Brook trout caught, this provides us with an estimate of overall fish health and condition in the population.

Contact

Interested anglers are encouraged to attend an information session, held annually in spring, or contact Brandon.Nilsen@pc.gc.ca.