Fishing North of Pickle Lake

[Fishoil]

Does anyone have any experience fishing any of the many lakes and rivers north of Pickle Lake? I had a great trip up that way last year and am in the planning stages of one for next year. I haven't decided whether to go back to the lake we fished last year or try a different one. When we were there last year we drove all the way up to Windigo and checked out all of the town campsites along the way. There are quite a few interesting lakes up there that I wouldn't mind camping and fishing on if someone has some experience on them that they are willing to share.

[IaDave]

Probably about 15 yrs ago took my boat up and stayed at a fly-in outfitters home base cabin north of Pickle and tried to fish a few lakes around the area. We got on Mud Lake until the wind blew us off which is about 25 miles North of Pickle. There is a campground there and a lot of locals go there so not as remote as you might want. We also went to Kapchaki lake which is right next to Pickle Lake. Took the road North but couldn't get on a lot of the lakes because of the wind but did put in at the river about 60 - 70 miles North( I think it is the Pipestone). There is a river that crosses the road about 15 miles North- the sign says July Falls or something like that, stop and cast a few jigs below the falls on the east side it can be very good. My fishing partner wrenched his knee so we headed back to Iowa early. It was still a great experience traveling the road north- didn't see 1 vehicle for the 70 mile trip but saw a bunch of wildlife.

[Fishoil]

We camped at Mud Lake on our way back last year. There were several campers parked there, both local and from the states. I didn't see the falls you mentioned but will look for it next time up, it looks like it's just south of Mud Lake. How was the fishing on Mud? The Pipestone is just under 100 miles north of Pickle. Did you fish the river there or head up into the lake above?

[IaDave]

We had fair to good action on Mud. Found a spot where the Otaskwin River flowed into the lake and we motored up the river as far as we could till we came to a twin falls and caught a few below them. We did a lot of exploring mostly being on new water and then the wind picked up and made for an interesting trip back. We never made it back because of the guy hurting his knee. I had forgotten how far the Pipestone was from Pickle- we stayed in the river and really didn't have any luck and by the time we got there is was kind of late. We went in Sept. and at the time there were a couple of shady looking moose hunters camping at the landing so we stayed close. Sure did love the remoteness of that long road. Did you go north of the Pipestone? I couldn't remember if Windigo was north or just south of the Pipestone.

[Fishoil]

Windigo is at the end of the road. It's 155 or 165 miles north of Pickle, I can't remember which. It's a long drive and there's nobody to be seen along the way. There's an ice road that starts just before Windigo that can take you way north and then west to come back down through Red Lake if you choose. That campground on the Pipestone is popular with moose hunters, must be a good population in the area. I've talked to a few people that have camped there while hunting. It's beautiful, remote country up there and I can't wait to get back.

[IaDave]

I would love to make another trip up there but unfortunately my body is aging faster than my brain( 1 fake hip and the other going bad). Hopefully when I get all patched up I can make the trip when I retire in 3 yrs.
Have a safe trip this coming year and let us know how you do.

[Lovetofish]

Originally Posted by Fishoil

Does anyone have any experience fishing any of the many lakes and rivers north of Pickle Lake? I had a great trip up that way last year and am in the planning stages of one for next year. I haven't decided whether to go back to the lake we fished last year or try a different one. When we were there last year we drove all the way up to Windigo and checked out all of the town campsites along the way. There are quite a few interesting lakes up there that I wouldn't mind camping and fishing on if someone has some experience on them that they are willing to share.

CRS is setiing in Fishoil. That trip was 2 years ago

[Fishoil]

Originally Posted by Lovetofish

CRS is setiing in Fishoil. That trip was 2 years ago

Not unless 2014 is here already......

[Carnhzkr]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but reading these posts makes me reminisce. It must have been around '75 when my dad got a hair up his butt and decided to make the drive to Horseshoe Lake on the Pipestone. That was the year we upgraded from sleeping in a rotten canvas tent to a borrowed pickup topper. The last semblance of civilization along the gravel road that stretched for well over 100 miles was a tiny village called Pickle Crow, where we bought our last fill of gasoline. We got about two miles down the road when the truck started chug-chug-chugging. My dad diagnosed that the young attendant at the station filled us with diesel instead of gas. We limped back to town and the kid siphoned a tank of diesel/gas onto the dirt. That was the year that someone showed us a new technique using a three-way swivel and Thin Fins (a type of crank bait). We caught the *heck (this board censors the word H-E-L-L?) out of the walleye below a beautiful falls on the lower end of Horseshoe Lake.

Sorry for the interruption. Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

[phishfearme]

hopefully, lenray will chime in on this thread. he's spent much time north of pickle portaging and camping in the remotest of lakes.

like Iadave, I have flown into numerous lakes in the north of pickle area - especially along the otoskwin river. you may find that some of the lakes off the rivers are mear mudholes but all the lakes or river widenings are some of the best walleye action around - but a 24 incher is huge - these are not places to go for trophies although they are there but not in big numbers. same with pike.

there is a portage route starting from somewhere along the road to windigo into littleford lake then going down the otoskwin to the bridge where the river crosses that road just north of pickle. I've chatted with a few people who've done this river trip - pretty hard core - like lenray. I've personally fished from otoskwin lake all the way to the outlet of bow lake (just upstream from mud lake) - more walleye fishing that you can imagine along that route.

Dwight Monck of north of 51 outfitters has many of the cabin LUP's in this area.

phish