Remote fly-in walleye and pike among more than a thousand islands.
Free printable map (PDF) ↓
Download the free printable map (PDF) ↓Draft map. Depth bands where a public survey exists; each map has its own scale bar.
Where: North-eastern Manitoba
Size: about 218,000 acres measured (often listed as 302,000)
Access: Fly-in from Winnipeg.
Deepest: 195 ft
Average depth: about 66 ft
Species to target: Walleye, northern pike
Walleye limit (US angler): ?
Typical ice-out: ?
Who else is on the water: a few lodges
Size (acres)
Sydney & Kilburn: about 17,570 (Sydney 14,240 with the Sturgeon River + Kilburn 3,330)
Island Lake: about 218,000 measured (often listed as 302,000)
Boats on an average summer day
Sydney & Kilburn: 10
Island Lake: ?
Acres per boat
Sydney & Kilburn: 1,760
Island Lake: ?
Rough-water days a season
Sydney & Kilburn: 1.7 (Kilburn 0)
Island Lake: 1.7
Sheltered water
Sydney & Kilburn: 75%
Island Lake: 90% ✓
Walleye a US angler may keep each day
Sydney & Kilburn: 2, both 18 in or under
Island Lake: ?
Clearest summer water
Sydney & Kilburn: 26 ft
Island Lake: ?
Deepest spot
Sydney & Kilburn: 240 ft (Kilburn 213 ft) ✓
Island Lake: 195 ft
Cisco (tullibee)
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Island Lake: ?
Whitefish
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Island Lake: ?
Free of invasive smelt
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Island Lake: ?
Mayfly mud flats
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Island Lake: ?
Disturbances on or upstream (of 6)
Sydney & Kilburn: 0
Island Lake: ?
Typical ice-out
Sydney & Kilburn: about May 5
Island Lake: ?
Hours from Minneapolis
Sydney & Kilburn: 7 h drive + 0.5 h flight ✓
Island Lake: 8 h drive + 1.5 h flight
Who else is on the water
Sydney & Kilburn: 1 lodge, 0 cottages
Island Lake: a few lodges
✓ marks the better value. ? means we couldn’t find accurate data or a close estimate. We’ve made every effort to be accurate, but some figures are estimates and there may be errors or gaps. How we measured
