West Pike Lake

West Pike Lake covers 788 acres in the Gunflint district of the Boundary Waters, in the cluster of lakes toward the eastern end of the wilderness, closer to the international border than to the Gunflint Trail's busier entry points. It's one of the deeper lakes in this part of the BWCA, dropping to 120 feet, and the water runs clear enough for trout to see baitfish well down in the water column.

Every way in crosses a difficult portage, whether you come from East Pike Lake, Clearwater Lake, or Pine Lake. That effort keeps West Pike quieter than water closer to entry points, even though it holds five campsites and plenty of room to spread out.

Lake trout are what draws people here. They're native and reproduce on their own, growing fast on a diet of cisco that stack up in the cold water below. Burbot are common too and run bigger than in most nearby lakes, some pushing two feet long. Smallmouth bass also live in the lake but have thinned out in recent years, and white sucker numbers are trending down as well.

Less than a third of West Pike Lake is shallow enough to fish from the surface down. The rest drops fast into the cold water lake trout need, which is exactly the kind of structure that makes this a trout lake rather than a walleye lake.

Five campsites sit around the lake, enough that a group can usually find one without setting up next to another party. Getting here takes a demanding carry no matter the direction, and that's the main reason West Pike Lake stays less crowded than its size and fishing would otherwise draw.