Alder Lake near Sioux Lookout: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  You will find Alder Lake in Kenora District, Ontario. Everything around it is rolling bush. Surface area runs to roughly 1.86 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. You are looking at roughly 12 km of shoreline, with plenty of water between access points. Supplies mean a trip to Sioux Lookout, 35 km off. It is 302 km to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Alder Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Records held for Kenora District cover northern pike, longnose sucker, white sucker, johnny darter and logperch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. On Alder Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs -18°C to 18°C. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The open-water window runs from around late April to about mid November in an average year. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. The season on Alder Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Whiz Lake is 1.7 km distant. Where Alder Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.