Has anybody fished Pickerel in mid September? EP is Stanton Bay and thinking about Rawn Narrows or the B Chain... Hoping for some Walleyes and big Pike..

I have fished Pickerel in mid-Sept. Wind is going to be your biggest issue. I've been wind bound on Pickerel more than once, and at times almost all day. I'd cross Pickerel and go into some of the smaller lakes to the south. At least if it's windy you can still get out on the water.

I assume you know that you need to be Canadian or have an outfitter to use Stanton Bay, but FYI just in case. Having used Stanton a few times, for the cost of the shuttle, I'd probably lean towards using French and then paddling down into Baptism / Trouser or Rawn Narrows from there.

Fished Pickerel in June this year. Excellent for Lakers, Pike, Bass and Walleye. Huge lake but as mapsguy said it can be windy. I also endorse heading for the Rawn narrows with excursions up to Pickerel for lakers. Walleye are good in the narrows and Bass can be found in the island maze just south of Pickerel.

Thanks everyone! Can't wait to head up from the heat of Florida...

quote mapsguy1955: "Thanks everyone! Can't wait to head up from the heat of Florida..."

Have a great trip. We will soon be jealous of you paddling and fishing in Florida during the winter.

We were just on Pickerel, Rawn, Buckingham, Bisk, Beg and Bud, 9/2-9/9. Fishing was slow, but it was also a period of barometric swings and the wrong time of the solar/lunar cycle. My son-in-law did well on Bud. Not so much on Buckingham. We did not fish Rawn, except from shore on the big island, nor did we fish the other lakes you mention. If you fish early and late in the day, you probably will do better than we did. The channel from Stanton Bay to Pickerel was good to us a few years ago...look for a small rock "bluff" and be sure to fish around it. --Goose

We have been on Pickerel in Sept 3X and caught lots of fish...no walleye, but lots of smbass and northern. Agree w/ Ranger in that wind on Pickerel can strand you for days. Comes from the West, so going in from French Lake was a challenge...but going out was a blast...Surfs Up!!! Walleye were plentiful in Rawn Lake, especially around the island in the middle. There were many wonderful sandy campsites on Pickerel.

quote Longpaddler: "We have been on Pickerel in Sept 3X and caught lots of fish...no walleye, but lots of smbass and northern. Agree w/ Ranger in that wind on Pickerel can strand you for days. Comes from the West, so going in from French Lake was a challenge...but going out was a blast...Surfs Up!!! Walleye were plentiful in Rawn Lake, especially around the island in the middle. There were many wonderful sandy campsites on Pickerel."

Was always going to do a late September trip on Pickeral for lake trout.
The trouble is some years the water temps are still warm or it seems like some lakes lake trout after being deep all summer have not moved up in the water column yet.
Any lake trout at all?

quote Pinetree: "Was always going to do a late September trip on Pickeral for lake trout.
The trouble is some years the water temps are still warm or it seems like some lakes lake trout after being deep all summer have not moved up in the water column yet.
Any lake trout at all?"

Didn't catch any lakers, but we fished the bays and islands. I wouldn't be surprised if there were lakers in the deep waters of Pickerel. The winds often pick up on Pickerel in the late mornings thru the afternoon...

There in there and I know early season They do O'kay there. Like you said it is a big lake and big winds. Big lakes in my experience I have had tough lake trout fishing in the fall.

Big lakes when calm are the best lakes in the world to canoe when calm and worst when windy. Boundary Waters Journal had a good article about two people canoeing when they shouldn't of been canoeing on that lake and tipping over. They ended up O'kay. But lot of dumb mistakes.

quote Pinetree: "

quote Longpaddler: "We have been on Pickerel in Sept 3X and caught lots of fish...no walleye, but lots of smbass and northern. Agree w/ Ranger in that wind on Pickerel can strand you for days. Comes from the West, so going in from French Lake was a challenge...but going out was a blast...Surfs Up!!! Walleye were plentiful in Rawn Lake, especially around the island in the middle. There were many wonderful sandy campsites on Pickerel."

Was always going to do a late September trip on Pickeral for lake trout.
The trouble is some years the water temps are still warm or it seems like some lakes lake trout after being deep all summer have not moved up in the water column yet.
Any lake trout at all?"

We didn't stop to fish in Pickerel last September but we dragged some cranks through it when paddling to Stanton Bay, we managed to pull up a couple lakers, nothing of any size though.

Fished Rawn, Art, Buckingham in Sept. OK on SM Bass and ok on walleye on Art. Fished the B chain several times but not in Sept. Had good luck with SM Bass and caught a 48 inch pike behind the falls below Bisk. No walleye caught in the B chain.

You will do fine no matter what.

quote AtwaterGA: "Fished Rawn, Art, Buckingham in Sept. OK on SM Bass and ok on walleye on Art. Fished the B chain several times but not in Sept. Had good luck with SM Bass and caught a 48 inch pike behind the falls below Bisk. No walleye caught in the B chain.


You will do fine no matter what. "

Do you have a picture of the 48 inch pike? I love to see pics of monster pike.