Pickerel Lake is a 427 acre state Wildlife Management Area. Roughly 2/3 is Pickerel Lake, and 1/3 prairie. A boat ramp is located on the southeast side of the lake, but it is very shallow and best suited to canoes, kayaks and small jon boats.
Pickerel Lake lies in the extreme northeast corner of Buena Vista County, actually touching Clay County to the North and Pocahontas County to the east. From US 71 (which bisects Buena Vista county North-to-South) in Sioux Rapids, take County Road C13 east about 11 ½ miles. 
Pickerel Lake is a mix of reeds, cattails, drowned willow trees and open water, making ideal habitat for breeding Coots, Pied-billed Grebes, Ruddy Ducks, Mallards and Wood Ducks. The northern edge of the lake is bordered by a thin strip of mature hardwoods, hosting songbirds. East of 240th Avenue lies approximately 100 acres of prairie.
This is a public hunting area.