The most sought-after game fish in Nova Scotia, by far, is the beautifully colored, eastern or speckled brook trout. The beloved "brookie" is our one true native trout - a char actually (Salvelinus fontinalis) - and is widely dispersed throughout the province. It occurs in two important forms - residents, which spend their entire lives in freshwater and their sea-run counterparts who choose to go to sea like the salmon and generally grow larger than their stay-at-homes cousins. Unlike the salmon, though, sea-run brook trout like to stay close to home once they hit the salt. They spend most of their sea-feeding time cruising the coastline, moving in and out of river estuaries, grazing as they go. They will often nose into the freshwater current of rivers and streams, moving in and out with the tides. Fishing for these coastal cruisers can be very exciting at, or just above, the head of tide when a pod of hungry sea trout show up. Like salmon, they also stage distinct spawning runs, racing up their home rivers and into the headwaters quickly, when the rivers rise in June and July. Here today and gone tomorrow, these beautiful silvery fish can grow to over 5 pounds (although a pound or two is the more the norm). They will often come on the same raise of water as summer-run Atlantic salmon and to a large degree, tend to act a lot like their larger cousins as well. They take many of the same flies and often hold in the same lies as salmon. Sea-run brook trout can be a sweet addition to summer salmon fishing as well as a worthy quarry to pursue all on its own. There is also usually a smaller run of sea trout that come in the fall, just before the spawning season, to join the summer-run fish for the big hoedown.

Medium size streamers and wet flies are excellent choices as well as "buggy" looking flies like Wooly Buggers and Sea Lice nymphs. Another local favorite is the Ingalls' Butterfly. During warm periods sea-run brookies will often turn on to dry flies, particularly small Bomber-style bugs.

Resident brook trout are found in almost every lake, stream & pond in the province and are generally smaller and darker in coloration than their salt-running brethren. Eager takers and game fighters, they favor small nymphs and streamers in the spring and fall and small dry flies in the summer. Like trout everywhere, they key in on hatch cycles of the available aquatic insect populations. The annual Mayfly hatch is probably the single most anticipated angling event of the year. For a few weeks in late April and early May the backwoods lakes and streams come alive with dark-bodied mayflies. Hungry trout gorge themselves on the abundance and devout trouters are there to meet them.