South Pickerel Lake in Timiskaming District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Timiskaming District, Ontario, is where South Pickerel Lake sits. It stands 294 metres above sea level. At 8 hectares it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Our Timiskaming District list holds plenty of bigger water. The nearest place of any size is Haileybury, 11 km away. Greater Sudbury is the closest city, 137 km away. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on South Pickerel Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Records held for Timiskaming District cover brook trout, northern pike, yellow perch and Iowa darter. Species recorded across the county may be limited to a few waters. South Pickerel Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -16°C in January to roughly 18°C in July. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. The water is typically free of ice between late April and late November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. At South Pickerel Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. For a change of water, North Pickerel Lake is 0.9 km distant. Treat South Pickerel Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.