The water
Woodenshoe Lake is a small stillwater in BC's West Kootenay, near the community of Kuskonook on Kootenay Lake's east shore. No survey has recorded its surface area, and the road in is a rough 4x4 track finished off with a short hike, not a maintained boat-launch road. Treat it as a walk-in, carry-in lake until access is confirmed locally.
The fishing
Woodenshoe carries a westslope cutthroat trout put-and-take program that has run since 1969 and is still active, one of the longer stocking records among the small West Kootenay lakes. Twenty-seven recorded releases have gone in between 1969 and 2025, totalling roughly 80,000 fish. Kiakho-strain fry started the program in 1969 and 1970; every release since 1971 has been Connor-strain fish, mixing fry, fall-fry and yearling plants on a roughly biennial cadence. The most recent release was 2,681 Connor-strain yearlings on June 17, 2025, averaging about 7.5 g.
Fish it with standard small-lake stillwater tactics until a local report says otherwise: a chironomid under an indicator worked over the shoals, or a small Woolly Bugger or balanced leech along any drop-off. With plants going in every year or two, the lake should carry a spread of year classes rather than a single cohort.
Read the stocking record as the fishing report
Stocking
Woodenshoe — 80,009 fish stocked, 1969–2025
Cutthroat Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Cutthroat Trout |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,681 |
| 2022 | 3,000 |
| 2021 | 2,585 |
| 2019 | 2,500 |
| 2016 | 2,000 |
| 2014 | 1,000 |
| 2012 | 1,000 |
| 2010 | 1,000 |
| 2008 | 1,000 |
| 2007 | 3,793 |
| 2004 | 1,000 |
| 2002 | 1,000 |
| 1998 | 2,000 |
| 1996 | 2,000 |
| 1994 | 2,000 |
| 1992 | 2,000 |
| 1990 | 5,000 |
| 1985 | 5,000 |
| 1983 | 5,000 |
| 1981 | 5,450 |
| 1980 | 5,000 |
| 1978 | 5,000 |
| 1976 | 5,000 |
| 1974 | 5,000 |
| 1971 | 5,000 |
| 1970 | 2,000 |
| 1969 | 2,000 |
Conditions
- Species held: westslope cutthroat trout only, all of it stocked; no other species on record.
- Program: put-and-take angling, active, with the 2025 release the most recent of 27 since 1969.
- Water-quality/health signal: no bathymetry or mollusc survey on file for this lake.
Access and the rules
A rough 4x4 road and a short hike reach Woodenshoe Lake near Kuskonook. There is no named trailhead or confirmed parking area on record, so treat the route in as unconfirmed until checked locally, and expect a walk-in rather than a roadside stop.
