Horseshoe Lake sits north of Peckhams Lake in the East Kootenay, reached by following the Wardner–Fort Steele Road north from Peckhams onto Horseshoe Lake Road. It is a put-and-take fishery for stocked rainbow trout, and its shoreline draws hikers, mountain bikers, swimmers, canoeists and kayakers through the same warm months anglers are working the shoals.
The water
The lake is a compact 10.7 hectares but carries real depth for its size: a Province of BC survey recorded a maximum of 11.6 m and a mean of 2.7 m, with 5.5 m of water clarity (Secchi depth) and a slightly alkaline surface pH of 8.4, typical of Rocky Mountain Trench lakes in this part of the East Kootenay. That depth gives the fish a cool refuge to retreat to once the shallow shoal water warms through summer.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the drive is worth it, the stocking record is the fishing report. Horseshoe has been topped up every spring from 2017 through 2026 with Pennask all-female triploid rainbow yearlings, 3,000 fish released each April, averaging roughly 4.5 to 9.8 grams at release. That is a small, steady put-and-take program built around fingerling-sized fish that grow on through the season rather than a one-off dump of catchables.
Horseshoe Lake — 486,687 fish stocked, 1923–2026
Rainbow Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3,000 |
| 2025 | 3,000 |
| 2024 | 3,000 |
| 2023 | 3,000 |
| 2022 | 3,000 |
| 2021 | 3,000 |
| 2020 | 3,000 |
| 2019 | 3,000 |
| 2018 | 3,000 |
| 2017 | 3,000 |
| 2016 | 3,000 |
| 2015 | 3,000 |
| 2014 | 4,495 |
| 2013 | 3,000 |
| 2012 | 5,846 |
| 2011 | 3,000 |
| 2010 | 3,000 |
| 2009 | 3,000 |
| 2008 | 3,000 |
| 2007 | 3,000 |
| 2006 | 3,000 |
| 2005 | 3,000 |
| 2004 | 3,000 |
| 2003 | 3,000 |
| 2002 | 3,000 |
| 2001 | 3,000 |
| 2000 | 3,000 |
| 1999 | 3,000 |
| 1998 | 3,000 |
| 1997 | 3,000 |
| 1996 | 3,000 |
| 1995 | 3,000 |
| 1994 | 3,000 |
| 1993 | 6,500 |
| 1992 | 5,000 |
| 1991 | 5,000 |
| 1990 | 2,500 |
| 1989 | 5,000 |
| 1988 | 5,000 |
| 1987 | 5,000 |
| 1986 | 5,000 |
| 1985 | 5,000 |
| 1984 | 5,000 |
| 1983 | 5,000 |
| 1981 | 5,000 |
| 1980 | 7,500 |
| 1979 | 5,000 |
| 1978 | 5,200 |
| 1977 | 5,000 |
| 1976 | 5,000 |
| 1974 | 5,000 |
| 1973 | 5,000 |
| 1972 | 5,000 |
| 1971 | 5,000 |
| 1970 | 5,000 |
| 1969 | 5,000 |
| 1968 | 2,000 |
| 1967 | 5,000 |
| 1963 | 17,140 |
| 1962 | 15,900 |
| 1961 | 4,200 |
| 1954 | 10,080 |
| 1953 | 5,000 |
| 1952 | 20,000 |
| 1951 | 7,000 |
| 1950 | 5,000 |
| 1949 | 10,000 |
| 1948 | 5,126 |
| 1947 | 17,500 |
| 1946 | 5,000 |
| 1945 | 10,000 |
| 1943 | 5,000 |
| 1939 | 27,000 |
| 1938 | 7,000 |
| 1933 | 20,200 |
| 1932 | 5,000 |
| 1931 | 25,000 |
| 1930 | 8,500 |
| 1929 | 10,000 |
| 1926 | 10,000 |
| 1923 | 10,000 |
The fishing
Horseshoe's confirmed record is short: location, the resident species, and the stocking numbers above. No lake-specific fishing report is on record for it, so fish it on the standard small-lake program that works the rest of the Peckhams-Norbury cluster: a chironomid under an indicator over the shoal water in spring and early summer, then a Woolly Bugger or leech worked slow along the drop-off into the 11.6 m hole as the shallows warm. Round out an evening with a small dry to match the rise if fish are working the surface.
What's confirmed here
Access and the rules
Reach the lake by driving north from Peckhams Lake on the Wardner–Fort Steele Road, then onto Horseshoe Lake Road. It sits close enough to Peckhams and Norbury Lake Provincial Park to pair with either on the same trip, and shares the same East Kootenay recreation corridor as hiking and biking trails, so expect company on the shoreline through summer.
