McDonald Creek

McDonald Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Columbia River. Recorded fish: Bull Trout, Kokanee, Rainbow Trout.

The water

It flows into Columbia River within the Upper Arrow Lake watershed (Upper Arrow Lake → Columbia 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 18 km. Bull Trout, Kokanee, Rainbow Trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (39 records). The fish-passage model expects Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout here too, since the reach is reachable with no barrier between, though there is no direct record yet. Named tributaries: Windy Creek.

The fishing

As a small stream, a tributary of Columbia River, McDonald 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: wade / technical: steep gradient, pocket water (median channel width ~8.1 m, moderate width; median gradient ~5.88%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~2.627 m³/s, low flow; canyon-confined sections with ~123 m walls (DEM)).

Access & the rules

Access for McDonald 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.