The water
Tamarack Lake sits at the head of Tamarack Creek in BC's East Kootenay, within the St. Mary River watershed (St. Mary River to Kootenay River). It is a small stillwater, roughly 13.7 hectares, and a shallow one: a 1960 provincial lake survey measured a maximum depth of 3.7 m and a mean of just 2 m, numbers that mark it as a shallow, weedy put-grow lake rather than a deep chironomid water.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the drive is worth it, the stocking record is the fishing report. Tamarack Lake has been planted since 1925, with 98 recorded releases on file through 2026, overwhelmingly rainbow trout, with brook trout also stocked at times over that century. The most recent release, in spring 2026, put 2,000 yearling Blackwater-strain rainbow trout into the lake, the same Blackwater program that supplies stocked lakes across the region.
Tamarack Lake — 374,645 fish stocked, 1925–2026
Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Brook Trout |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,000 | · |
| 2025 | 2,000 | · |
| 2024 | 2,000 | · |
| 2023 | 2,000 | · |
| 2022 | 2,500 | · |
| 2021 | 2,000 | · |
| 2020 | 2,000 | · |
| 2019 | 10,085 | · |
| 2018 | 2,000 | · |
| 2017 | 2,000 | · |
| 2015 | 2,000 | · |
| 2014 | 4,000 | · |
| 2013 | 4,000 | · |
| 2012 | 4,000 | · |
| 2011 | 4,000 | · |
| 2010 | 4,000 | · |
| 2009 | 8,350 | · |
| 2008 | 4,350 | · |
| 2007 | 4,350 | · |
| 2006 | 350 | · |
| 2005 | 3,850 | · |
| 2004 | 2,850 | · |
| 2003 | 4,850 | · |
| 2002 | 3,350 | · |
| 2001 | 3,500 | · |
| 2000 | 4,500 | · |
| 1999 | 7,300 | · |
| 1998 | 6,000 | · |
| 1997 | 6,000 | · |
| 1996 | 6,000 | · |
| 1995 | 8,000 | · |
| 1994 | 8,000 | · |
| 1993 | 3,000 | · |
| 1992 | 3,000 | · |
| 1991 | 3,000 | · |
| 1990 | 3,000 | · |
| 1989 | 3,000 | · |
| 1988 | 3,000 | · |
| 1987 | 3,000 | · |
| 1986 | 3,000 | · |
| 1985 | 3,000 | · |
| 1984 | 4,000 | · |
| 1983 | 3,000 | · |
| 1982 | 3,000 | · |
| 1981 | 5,000 | · |
| 1980 | 5,000 | · |
| 1979 | 5,000 | · |
| 1978 | 6,000 | · |
| 1977 | 6,000 | · |
| 1976 | 7,000 | · |
| 1975 | 8,000 | · |
| 1974 | 8,000 | · |
| 1973 | 5,000 | · |
| 1972 | 6,000 | · |
| 1971 | 5,000 | · |
| 1970 | 5,000 | · |
| 1969 | 3,000 | · |
| 1968 | 3,000 | · |
| 1966 | 7,040 | · |
| 1964 | 7,150 | · |
| 1963 | 5,170 | · |
| 1962 | 4,980 | · |
| 1961 | 5,600 | · |
| 1960 | 4,250 | · |
| 1959 | 4,250 | · |
| 1958 | 5,000 | · |
| 1955 | 4,500 | · |
| 1954 | 12,880 | · |
| 1953 | 8,000 | · |
| 1952 | 12,000 | · |
| 1951 | 6,940 | · |
| 1950 | 4,000 | · |
| 1949 | 5,000 | · |
| 1948 | 5,000 | · |
| 1947 | 3,000 | · |
| 1946 | 7,500 | · |
| 1942 | 2,200 | · |
| 1926 | · | 10,000 |
| 1925 | · | 4,000 |
That long record, not a modern fish-count survey, is the clearest evidence of what is actually swimming in Tamarack Lake today: freshly stocked Blackwater rainbow, backed by whatever residual brook trout remain from earlier plants.
The fishing
Fish Tamarack Lake as a put-grow stillwater. Its shallow profile (mean depth 2 m) sets the read: work a chironomid under an indicator over the flats and any drop-offs early in the season, then switch to leech and attractor patterns like a Woolly Bugger as the shallow water warms through summer. In a lake this shallow, expect weed growth by mid-season and warmer surface water to push fish deeper or later in the day; early morning and evening are the better windows once summer sets in.
Read the stocking record as the fishing report
Conditions
- Depth: max 3.7 m, mean 2 m (BC lake survey, 1960-08-04).
- Size: approximately 13.7 hectares surface area.
- Species held: rainbow trout (Blackwater strain, stocked most springs) and brook trout (stocked at times); no wild, self-sustaining population on record.
- Program: put-and-take / put-grow angling lake, not a broodstock or kokanee-forage water.
Access and the rules
Access, launch and parking for Tamarack Lake have not been confirmed and still need a field or source check; the coordinate above marks the fish-release point recorded in the provincial stocking data, not a verified access point. Confirm both the route in and the current regulations before you commit a day to it.
