St. Leon Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Columbia River. Recorded fish: Brook Trout, 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 23 km. Brook Trout, Bull Trout, Kokanee, Rainbow Trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (36 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: Sob Creek.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. St. Leon Creek is a put-and-take angling fishery, stocked with catchable game fish: 8 recorded releases totalling 38,591 fish (Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout), last stocked 2000-07-20.
St. Leon Creek — 38,591 fish stocked, 1990–2000
Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Bull Trout |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | · | 2,327 |
| 1998 | · | 1,000 |
| 1995 | 3,468 | · |
| 1994 | 2,187 | 2,800 |
| 1993 | · | 10,000 |
| 1991 | · | 10,002 |
| 1990 | · | 6,807 |
Stocking appears to have wound down after 2000. 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 Columbia River, St. Leon 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 ~9.7 m, moderate width; median gradient ~5.92%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~4.006 m³/s, low flow; canyon-confined sections with ~149 m walls (DEM)).
Access & the rules
Access for St. Leon 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.
