Three Island Lake is a deep, put-grow rainbow stillwater in the upper Columbia Valley, south of the Spillimacheen River and southeast of Golden. It has carried rainbow trout in nearly every recorded release since 1959.
The water
The lake covers 23.7 hectares. A 1991 provincial fisheries investigation found a maximum depth of 34.3 m and a mean depth of 10.7 m, with a Secchi clarity of 6.5 m and an alkaline surface pH of 9.5. That is a lot of depth for a lake this size, and it means real shoal-and-drop-off structure rather than a shallow bowl: the three islands that give the lake its name sit over the shallower shelf, with the basin dropping away fast beyond them.
The fishing
Three Island fishes as a put-grow stillwater: the rainbow trout go in as small yearlings and grow on the lake's natural forage, so the fish in the net any given season are one or more years removed from the truck. Work a chironomid under an indicator over the shoal around the islands, and switch to a balanced leech or Woolly Bugger worked slow along the drop-offs once the shallows warm through summer. Dragonfly and damselfly nymph patterns stripped toward shore are worth a look in a lake this deep and clear, though no local report has confirmed the hatch timing here. The stocking record below is the closest thing to a fishing report this lake has.
A near-unbroken program since 1959
Access and the rules
No confirmed public launch, trailhead or parking area has turned up for Three Island Lake. The lake sits south of the Spillimacheen River and southeast of Golden, between the Spillimacheen and Bobbie Burns Creek drainages. Confirm the access road and any seasonal restrictions locally before planning a trip.
Before you fish
Stocking
Three Island Lake is a rainbow-only put-and-take fishery: 65 recorded releases since 1959, missing only a handful of years, totalling roughly 331,000 rainbow trout. In recent years the program has settled to 1,000 Pennask-strain yearlings released each spring from the Beaver hatchery. The full year-by-year release history is below.
Three Island Lake — 331,222 fish stocked, 1959–2026
Rainbow Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,000 |
| 2025 | 1,000 |
| 2024 | 1,000 |
| 2023 | 1,000 |
| 2022 | 1,000 |
| 2021 | 1,000 |
| 2020 | 1,000 |
| 2019 | 1,000 |
| 2018 | 1,000 |
| 2017 | 1,000 |
| 2016 | 1,000 |
| 2015 | 1,000 |
| 2014 | 1,000 |
| 2013 | 1,000 |
| 2012 | 1,000 |
| 2011 | 1,000 |
| 2010 | 1,000 |
| 2009 | 1,000 |
| 2008 | 1,000 |
| 2007 | 1,000 |
| 2006 | 1,000 |
| 2005 | 1,000 |
| 2003 | 5,000 |
| 2002 | 5,000 |
| 2001 | 5,000 |
| 2000 | 5,000 |
| 1999 | 5,000 |
| 1998 | 5,000 |
| 1997 | 5,000 |
| 1996 | 5,000 |
| 1995 | 5,000 |
| 1994 | 5,000 |
| 1993 | 5,000 |
| 1992 | 7,500 |
| 1990 | 10,000 |
| 1989 | 5,000 |
| 1988 | 5,000 |
| 1987 | 5,000 |
| 1986 | 5,000 |
| 1985 | 8,000 |
| 1984 | 4,000 |
| 1983 | 8,000 |
| 1982 | 8,000 |
| 1981 | 9,000 |
| 1980 | 8,000 |
| 1979 | 8,000 |
| 1978 | 8,000 |
| 1977 | 8,000 |
| 1976 | 10,000 |
| 1975 | 10,000 |
| 1974 | 15,000 |
| 1973 | 18,000 |
| 1972 | 11,500 |
| 1971 | 15,000 |
| 1970 | 19,000 |
| 1969 | 12,000 |
| 1968 | 10,000 |
| 1966 | 6,160 |
| 1965 | 5,000 |
| 1964 | 6,162 |
| 1963 | 2,200 |
| 1962 | 1,200 |
| 1960 | 3,250 |
| 1959 | 3,250 |
Conditions
- Depth: max 34.3 m, mean 10.7 m, Secchi 6.5 m, surface pH 9.5 (provincial fisheries investigation, 1991-07-26). Deep and alkaline for its 23.7 ha footprint, with a real shoal-and-drop-off structure around the three islands rather than a shallow bowl.
- Stocking: rainbow trout only, nearly unbroken since 1959; 1,000 Pennask-strain yearlings a spring in recent years, sourced mainly through the Beaver hatchery.
