The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Michel Creek Tributary

Andy Good Creek

A small lower Michel Creek tributary near Corbin with direct westslope cutthroat and brook trout records, cobble-and-gravel riffle habitat, and some of the best measured water quality in the Michel system. No guide publishes dedicated coverage and no public access point is confirmed, so treat it as a regulation-and-access check rather than a destination.

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Angler's field report · Andy Good Creek
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Andy Good Creek is a small tributary of Michel Creek in the lower Elk Valley near Corbin, carrying direct records of westslope cutthroat trout and brook trout. No guide publishes dedicated coverage of the creek, and no public access point has been confirmed, so it reads as a regulation-and-access check rather than a proven day trip.

The water

Canada's federal gazetteer lists Andy Good Creek as an official Kootenay Land District name (its earlier name was Andygood Creek), with the creek's mouth at 49.5233, -114.6897, low in the Michel Creek drainage that eventually reaches the Elk River at Sparwood. A 2016 tributary survey by Teck Resources found only about 1 percent of the catchment disturbed by mining, all of the creek's surveyed length still connected to the Michel Creek main stem, and good water quality, benthic and tissue-selenium condition, stronger marks than most of its neighboring lower Michel tributaries carry. The lower creek runs over cobble and gravel riffle habitat with no calcite observed.

The fishing

Provincial fish-record data lists 12 direct observations on Andy Good Creek: 6 westslope cutthroat trout and 6 brook trout. That confirms the creek holds fish, not that it is a developed fishery. No guide or outfitter covers Andy Good Creek on its own; only the Michel Creek parent water gets dedicated attention. If the reach proves legal and accessible, expect tight, technical small-stream work: short accurate casts, dry-dropper rigs and light nymphing rather than the open pocket-water streamer game bigger Elk tributaries allow.

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Michel Creek tributary
Joins the lower Michel, then the Elk River
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Cutthroat and brook trout
12 direct fish records
eco
~1% mine disturbance
Good water quality, benthic and tissue-selenium condition
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Access unconfirmed
No named trailhead or public access point

No direct hatch sampling exists for Andy Good Creek. The nearest confirmed pattern is the Fernie and Elk hatch spine used across the lower Michel system: Golden Stoneflies near the season opener, Western Green Drakes, PMDs and Light Cahills, Yellow Sallies, caddis from mid-June through October, August terrestrials and fall Blue-Winged Olives. Where the water is legal and accessible, a basic small-stream box covers it: Adams, Royal Wulff, a small Stimulator, a small Chubby Chernobyl, foam ants and beetles, Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail and Prince nymphs.

phishing

Small water, handle with care

Both westslope cutthroat and brook trout turn up here in low numbers on a small, cold tributary. If you fish it legally, keep fights short, wet your hands before handling, and release fish quickly; a creek this size holds limited spawning gravel and cold-water refuge that heavy pressure could not easily replace.

Conditions

  • Navigability: no channel-geometry data is available for this small tributary. Treat it as tight, technical wade water consistent with a lower Michel tributary running over cobble and gravel riffle habitat.
  • Stocking: no stocking record. Andy Good Creek runs on wild fish only.

Access and the rules

No named trailhead, launch or parking area has been confirmed for Andy Good Creek. It sits low in the Michel Creek drainage near Corbin, in country with active mining infrastructure and a mix of private and Crown land, so treat any approach as a private-land and access check first. If access lines up, the character reads like other small lower-Michel tributaries such as Corbin Creek: short, technical wade water rather than a roadside stop.

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Before you fish

No individual Region 4 entry names Andy Good Creek. As a Michel Creek tributary it likely falls under the same Classified Water rules: trout and char catch-and-release, bait banned, Class II licence required when and where open, tributaries included. The exact bridge-bucket boundary and tributary application have not been confirmed. Check the current Region 4 synopsis before you fish.