Drive-to walleye at a historic gold-mining town that is also a fly-in gateway.
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 · Red Lake (town)
Size: about 41,500 acres
Access: Drive-to: end of Highway 105 at the town of Red Lake; launches and float-plane bases.
Deepest: 140 ft
Average depth: about 52 ft
Species to target: Walleye, northern pike, lake trout (catch-and-release)
Walleye limit (US angler): 4; only 1 over 46 cm
Typical ice-out: ?
Who else is on the water: several lodges
Size (acres)
Sydney & Kilburn: about 17,570 (Sydney 14,240 with the Sturgeon River + Kilburn 3,330)
Red Lake: about 41,500
Boats on an average summer day
Sydney & Kilburn: 10
Red Lake: ?
Acres per boat
Sydney & Kilburn: 1,760
Red Lake: ?
Rough-water days a season
Sydney & Kilburn: 1.7 (Kilburn 0) ✓
Red Lake: 2.5
Sheltered water
Sydney & Kilburn: 75%
Red Lake: 79% ✓
Walleye a US angler may keep each day
Sydney & Kilburn: 2, both 18 in or under ✓
Red Lake: 4; only 1 over 46 cm
Clearest summer water
Sydney & Kilburn: 26 ft ✓
Red Lake: 8½ ft
Deepest spot
Sydney & Kilburn: 240 ft (Kilburn 213 ft) ✓
Red Lake: 140 ft
Cisco (tullibee)
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Red Lake: ●
Whitefish
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Red Lake: ●
Free of invasive smelt
Sydney & Kilburn: ● ✓
Red Lake: –
Mayfly mud flats
Sydney & Kilburn: ●
Red Lake: ●
Disturbances on or upstream (of 6)
Sydney & Kilburn: 0 ✓
Red Lake: 5
Typical ice-out
Sydney & Kilburn: about May 5
Red Lake: ?
Hours from Minneapolis
Sydney & Kilburn: 7 h drive + 0.5 h flight ✓
Red Lake: 9 h drive
Who else is on the water
Sydney & Kilburn: 1 lodge, 0 cottages
Red Lake: several 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
