MOYIE RIVER

RIVER GUIDE / MOYIE LAKE OUTLET TO THE US BORDER / EAST KOOTENAY, BC
×3×3 AMoyie Lake outlet · Hwy 3/95 bridgeMoyie Lake outlet · Hwy 3/95 bridgeBYahk Provincial ParkYahk Provincial ParkCKingsgate / Eastport borderKingsgate / Eastport borderMoyie RiverMoyie RiverMOYIE LAKES · to Cranbrook ↑MOYIE LAKES · to Cranbrook ↑PURCELL MOUNTAINSPURCELL MOUNTAINSYAHKYAHKKINGSGATEKINGSGATEUS BORDER · IDAHOUS BORDER · IDAHOCROWSNEST HWY 3 · to Creston →CROWSNEST HWY 3 · to Creston →Sunrise CreekSunrise CreekSundown CreekSundown CreekStone CreekStone CreekChristopher CreekChristopher CreekElmira CreekElmira Creek N5 km5 km
quiet water below the lakesroadside fly corridor culvert logjam / debris bridge fordhighway / named roadminor / access road · trackhillshade © Esri

THE RIVER, KILOMETRE BY KILOMETRE

Total drop 131 m over 52 km · steepest 3 km ≈ 0.6% near km 18 · median width 26 m
70090005101520253035404550 kmLAKE OUTLET REACHLAKE OUTLET REACHHWY 3/95 CORRIDORHWY 3/95 CORRIDORYAHK TO THE BORDERYAHK TO THE BORDER ×3×3 ABC

GETTING THERE & THE MARKED STOPS

Hwy 3/95 south from Cranbrook runs the length of the guide — past the Moyie Lakes, down the valley to Yahk, then Hwy 95 continues to the Kingsgate border crossing. The rail line shares the corridor the whole way.

  • AMoyie Lake outlet — the powered-boat ban runs from this bridge to the border.
  • BYahk Provincial Park — day-use picnic area beside the river; the main confirmed public access. Licences at Two Pump Paul's in Yahk.
  • CKingsgate / Eastport crossing — BC regulations end at the line; the river continues to the Kootenai in Idaho.

THE FISH & WHEN TO COME

Brook trout wild, the everyday catch
Rainbow trout wild, through the mainstem
Bull trout & westslope cutthroat catch & release only
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Closed Apr 1 – Jun 14 (regional). Opens June 15; wide, gentle water (median ~26 m, 0.3% gradient) that reads well and suits a dry-dropper. Fish early and late through summer heat.

Treat it as the quiet plan B when the Goat is high or busy.

THE FLY BOX

  • Summer dries: Stimulator, Royal Wulff — attractors first
  • Aug–Sep: hoppers and terrestrials on a Chubby Chernobyl
  • Fall: Blue-Winged Olives and Green Drakes under an Adams
  • Subsurface (sz 12–14): Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Pat's Rubber Legs
  • For bulls: swing a Woolly Bugger or Muddler Minnow — land fast, keep wet, release

RULES OF THE WATER · NOT CLASSIFIED

  • Bull trout & cutthroat: catch & release on the Moyie.
  • Brook & rainbow: regional default 2 trout/char daily from streams.
  • Single barbless hook on all Region 4 streams, year-round.
  • Apr 1 – Jun 14: regional stream closure.
  • No powered boats from the Moyie Lake outlet bridge to the border.
  • Irishman Creek is closed to fishing all year. No Classified Waters licence needed — confirm the current Region 4 synopsis.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

  • Moyie Falls and the hydro dam sit downstream in Idaho — they block fish passage from the Kootenai, which is why the kokanee above were introduced, not wild-run.
  • Provincial inventories map log jams near km 31–32; expect more wood than the map shows.
  • Beyond Yahk Provincial Park no public access is confirmed — valley-bottom land is rail corridor and often private.
  • A short hike from Moyie reaches a small subalpine lake with good-sized cutthroat on dries.
DRAFT — not for navigation. Obstacle positions come from provincial inventories (FISS + FWA); approximate and not complete.