Stanley Bridge wharf stirred to life over the past week or so, with fishermen loading traps onto boats in preparation for setting day. These photos were taken Friday, April 28, one day before nearly a thousand lobster vessels were to hit the water for the start of the spring lobster fishery. More photos were to be taken on Saturday, April 29.



Photos byJim Brown.
Jim Brown can be reached at peijim@hotmail.com

In the early spring it’s a fast-rushing stream, dark and deep, surging through a culvert at Taylor Road in North Granville. It’s also a favorite destination of mine for trout and smelt fishing.
For years now I’ve headed down there, carefully watching my feet so they wouldn’t slip on bare, often jagged cement blocks lining the bank.
Less than a week ago I had a scary misstep within five minutes, my feet sliding off a slick, rain soaked block of cement. I banged my knee in the process but suffered no lasting injuries. Over the years I’ve been very fortunate, despite many slips, to suffer nothing more serious than cuts and bruises.
But what about the next time? What happens when an excited youngster rushes to the water’s edge to dip their net into a school of smelt or land the first trout of the season when the banks are still covered in snow? Will they conk their head and see stars? Will they get taken to the hospital with broken bones or worse? What if they slip and end up in the fast rushing early spring water?
Something should be done to remove those cement blocks before someone is hurt.

They are especially treacherous when covered by snow and hidden to the eye.
In my opinion it is only a matter of time before medical authorities are called to the stream. I urge the provincial government to hire someone to safely remove the blocks before something terrible happens.
It will cost some money to do the work, but it will be money well spent.
Photos and story byJim Brown.
Jim Brown can be reached at peijim@hotmail.com

Spawning smelt were moving through streams in large numbers across the province in early April. These smelt were caught in the Stanley Bridge area.
Jim Brown photo.