Remote road-end walleye and pike fishing with a handful of outfitters.
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: Northwestern Ontario · Pickle Lake
Size: about 125,000 acres
Access: Road access near Pickle Lake; most camps on the east end; special permit area.
Deepest: ?
Average depth: ?
Species to target: Walleye, northern pike, lake trout
Walleye limit (US angler): 4; 1 over 46 cm; tag from a lake outfitter
Typical ice-out: ?
Who else is on the water: about 5 outfitters
Size (acres)
Sydney & Kilburn: about 17,570 (Sydney 14,240 with the Sturgeon River + Kilburn 3,330)
Lake St. Joseph: about 125,000
Boats on an average summer day
Sydney & Kilburn: 10
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Acres per boat
Sydney & Kilburn: 1,760
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Rough-water days a season
Sydney & Kilburn: 1.7 (Kilburn 0) ✓
Lake St. Joseph: 2.8
Sheltered water
Sydney & Kilburn: 75%
Lake St. Joseph: 77% ✓
Walleye a US angler may keep each day
Sydney & Kilburn: 2, both 18 in or under ✓
Lake St. Joseph: 4; 1 over 46 cm; tag from a lake outfitter
Clearest summer water
Sydney & Kilburn: 26 ft
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Deepest spot
Sydney & Kilburn: 240 ft (Kilburn 213 ft)
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Cisco (tullibee)
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Whitefish
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Free of invasive smelt
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Mayfly mud flats
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Lake St. Joseph: ●
Disturbances on or upstream (of 6)
Sydney & Kilburn: 0 ✓
Lake St. Joseph: 3
Typical ice-out
Sydney & Kilburn: about May 5
Lake St. Joseph: ?
Hours from Minneapolis
Sydney & Kilburn: 7 h drive + 0.5 h flight ✓
Lake St. Joseph: 11 h drive
Who else is on the water
Sydney & Kilburn: 1 lodge, 0 cottages
Lake St. Joseph: about 5 outfitters
✓ 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
