Kokanee Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Kootenay River. Recorded fish: Bull Trout, Kokanee, Mountain Whitefish, Rainbow Trout, Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout.
The water
It flows into Kootenay River within the Kootenay Lake watershed (Kootenay Lake → Kootenay River). It runs stream order 4 (mid-range in the network; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 20 km. Bull Trout, Kokanee, Mountain Whitefish, Rainbow Trout, Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (47 records). Named tributaries: West Kokanee Creek, Busk Creek.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Kokanee Creek is a put-and-take angling fishery, stocked with catchable game fish: 34 recorded releases totalling 3,800,691 fish (Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout, Kokanee, Rainbow Trout, Lake Whitefish), last stocked 1952-01-01.
Kokanee Creek — 3,800,691 fish stocked, 1929–1952
Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Kokanee, Other. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Cutthroat Trout | Kokanee | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | · | 20,000 | 30,000 | · |
| 1951 | 8,733 | · | 30,000 | · |
| 1950 | 8,400 | · | 50,000 | · |
| 1949 | · | · | 300,000 | · |
| 1948 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1947 | · | · | 150,000 | · |
| 1946 | · | · | 30,000 | · |
| 1944 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1943 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1942 | 30,000 | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1941 | · | · | 73,760 | · |
| 1940 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1939 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1938 | · | · | 160,000 | · |
| 1937 | · | · | 370,000 | · |
| 1936 | · | · | 385,000 | · |
| 1935 | · | · | 300,000 | · |
| 1934 | · | · | 413,298 | · |
| 1933 | · | · | 211,000 | · |
| 1932 | · | · | 50,000 | · |
| 1931 | 21,500 | · | 129,000 | · |
| 1930 | · | · | 150,000 | 240,000 |
| 1929 | · | · | 40,000 | · |
Stocking appears to have wound down after 1952. Confirm whether it is still topped up or now fishes as a residual, wild population. The chart below shows the full release history.
The fishing
As a small stream, a tributary of Kootenay River, Kokanee Creek fishes the way creeks of its size do: short drifts with a buoyant attractor dry over a light dropper, working the pocket water and the heads of pools. The stocking record below is the truest read on what you will catch.
Conditions
- Navigability: wade / technical: steep gradient, pocket water (median channel width ~9.4 m, moderate width; median gradient ~4.59%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~2.743 m³/s, low flow).
Access & the rules
Access for Kokanee Creek, meaning the roads in, put-ins and any walk-in or seasonal limits, is worth confirming locally before you commit a day. The drainage map shows how the water sits in its valley.
