Fickle lake

[Smoky buck]

Went and tried Fickle for pike today and it was really slow but others I seen on the lake said it was an abnormally bad day. There was lots of good structure but minimal action not even followers.

What is AO opinion on the pike fishing in this lake. Is it another one of Alberta’s used to be good pike lakes or just an off day I had?

One thing I did notice was some really nice whitefish taking bugs off the surface. I wish I brought my fly rod in stead

[Red Bullets]

Last time I was at Fickle I was trolling a silver 4 inch long sub surface rapala behind a canoe and one of those big whites hit the rapala. It was 7 1/2 lbs. Also caught lots of small walleye and one bigger walleye. Never caught a pike there. The pike supposedly like the south shoreline according to the real old timers. There has to be one or two bigger pike left in there.

[Smoky buck]

The whitefish I see surface definitely bigger then I have caught before

Sounds like pike numbers are on the low side and I should have been targeting whitefish and walleye

[cube]

Went and tried Fickle for pike today and it was really slow but others I seen on the lake said it was an abnormally bad day. There was lots of good structure but minimal action not even followers.

What is AO opinion on the pike fishing in this lake. Is it another one of Alberta’s used to be good pike lakes or just an off day I had?

One thing I did notice was some really nice whitefish taking bugs off the surface. I wish I brought my fly rod in stead

Another decent pike lake now managed for walleye. The pike fishing has not been good there for a number of years now.

[Smoky buck]

Another decent pike lake now managed for walleye. The pike fishing has not been good there for a number of years now.

Seems to be a sad trend

The only fish that others mentioned catching was walleye

[7magtime]

Haven't fished it in 20 years but I remember some good pike coming out of Fickle. One was probably 25 pounds caught by a family that was camped a few sites down from us. Too bad it's another "used to be good" lake...sigh

[Sooner]

Fished it regularly in the last 10 yrs, not since covid though. As a kid the walleye fishing was catch and keep and big pike. A lake known for 30lber's. Seen a 31 lb pike filleted on a tailgate as a young kid. Still have the pic of that fish. Guy had a 2 lb pike on and the big mama took it and he still managed to land it.


Then the walleye disappeared. The lake was restocked and signs stating if you caught a walleye, to let the Edson F&W know. Then we started seeing dink walleye on the hook. In the last 10 yrs we have had some good catches of walleye, some epic evening bites. I would say the dinks are now pushing the 3 to 4 lbs range. Have not had anything bigger on.

But the pike fishing has gone bye bye imo, we always caught pike and used to cast to shore in the lily pads and pencil weeds and watch pike chase the spoon. Haven't had that in a few years, have not heard of a big one being caught in a long time. I think it is a walleye lake now.

I hear there are big whites, only ever seen one caught in the summer and that's a long time ago, think it scaled out around 4 lbs. Every winter I say I'm gonna sit in my tent and see what swims by, have not yet.


The lake is perfectly named. Unbelievable bite one day, nada the next. It is like the whole lake turns off.

Camped there since I was a baby, my kids too. One of my favorite campgrounds and lakes.

[Smoky buck]

Fished it regularly in the last 10 yrs, not since covid though. As a kid the walleye fishing was catch and keep and big pike. A lake known for 30lber's. Seen a 31 lb pike filleted on a tailgate as a young kid. Still have the pic of that fish. Guy had a 2 lb pike on and the big mama took it and he still managed to land it.


Then the walleye disappeared. The lake was restocked and signs stating if you caught a walleye, to let the Edson F&W know. Then we started seeing dink walleye on the hook. In the last 10 yrs we have had some good catches of walleye, some epic evening bites. I would say the dinks are now pushing the 3 to 4 lbs range. Have not had anything bigger on.

But the pike fishing has gone bye bye imo, we always caught pike and used to cast to shore in the lily pads and pencil weeds and watch pike chase the spoon. Haven't had that in a few years, have not heard of a big one being caught in a long time. I think it is a walleye lake now.

I hear there are big whites, only ever seen one caught in the summer and that's a long time ago, think it scaled out around 4 lbs. Every winter I say I'm gonna sit in my tent and see what swims by, have not yet.


The lake is perfectly named. Unbelievable bite one day, nada the next. It is like the whole lake turns off.

Camped there since I was a baby, my kids too. One of my favorite campgrounds and lakes.

Thanks for your response sounds like I won’t return unless I feel like fishing whitefish and walleye

Seems like central Alberta is becoming full of once was pike fisheries

[3blade]

There are decent whites in there, very picky and tough to catch though, but the pike fishing had already gone down hill 20 years ago...it’s one of those little lakes that can’t handle the pressure once a road is put in.

Be interesting to see if it can be a decent walleye fishery. In this case that’s not a bad option because it will never again be a trophy pike lake as long as you can drive to it.

[Grayling1]

25+ years ago they held big ice fishing tournaments there the first year year a fellow next to me caught an 18lbs and he wasn't even in the top finishers, a few years later a five lb was the biggest and they stopped holding the tournament. At least "2" 30lbs were taken out of there years ago. Its still a beautiful wilderness lake and my favorite local place to fish with numerous walleye to catch and release.

[Albertaangler16]

Anyone have an idea on snow depth and ice thickness this year? Work out of Edson and am curious.

[swampy45]

Anyone have an idea on snow depth and ice thickness this year? Work out of Edson and am curious.

I was out there on Saturday. Didn’t mark a single fish throughout the entire day, and there is 20” of snow on the ice. I would also advise against driving on (was our plan, but glad we did not), as we found there was 2” of ice close to shore and around the boat launch. Yes, two inches. Further out and away from the launch there was 12-15”.

[pikeman06]

Be careful on those edson and hinton area lakes guys. Not being mother goose or nothin but fished fickle and also the lakes in William Switzer like Jarvis and Gregg for big whites as a kid and in my later years and never drove on them. All we did was drag our junk out from the "parkin area" till we couldn't breath, dig down thru 4 ft of snow and drill thru 6 or maybe 12 inches of ice at the very most, and sit in floodwater all day and marvel at the whites swimming by. Didn't catch many but the ones we did get make those sylvan whites look like bait. Lots of snow out here this year already. Be careful. The lakes barely froze and we got a good dump. I cant imagine consistent ice regardless of the cold we have had.