Mark Creek

Mark Creek is a tributary creek flowing into St. Mary River. Recorded fish: Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout.

The water

It flows into St. Mary River within the St. Mary River watershed (St. Mary River → Kootenay River). It runs stream order 5 (well down the network, toward river scale; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 28 km. Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (71 records). The fish-passage model expects Bull Trout here too, since the reach is reachable with no barrier between, though there is no direct record yet. Named tributaries: Kimberley Creek.

The fishing

As a small stream, a tributary of St. Mary River, Mark 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. Match the fly box to the season and confirm against a current local report.

Conditions

• Navigability: not a casual float: whitewater or canyon evidence on this water; treat as wade unless a guide says otherwise (median channel width ~10.4 m, moderate width; median gradient ~2.9%, moderate; peak mean-annual discharge ~1.606 m³/s, low flow; canyon-confined sections with ~132 m walls (DEM)).

Access & the rules

Access for Mark 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.