The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Stocked Stillwater

Ashman Lake

A stocked stillwater in the Elk River watershed, W of Akamina Creek, in extreme SE corner of BC, surface area not recorded, carrying Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout and topped up by the provincial stocking program.

Ashman Lake is a stocked stillwater in the Elk River watershed, W of Akamina Creek, in extreme SE corner of BC. Surface area not recorded.

The water

Ashman Lake lies W of Akamina Creek, in extreme SE corner of BC; in the Elk River watershed. It covers surface area not recorded. The lake survey puts it at max 17.1 m, which sets the depth you fish.

Stocking

For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Ashman Lake is a put-and-take angling fishery, stocked with catchable game fish: 3 recorded releases totalling 6,000 fish (Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout), last stocked 1992-09-01.

Stocking record

Ashman Lake — 6,000 fish stocked, 1986–1992

Cutthroat Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.

YearCutthroat Trout
19922,000
19892,000
19862,000

Stocking appears to have wound down after 1992. Confirm whether it is still topped up or now fishes as a residual, wild population. The chart below shows the full release history.

The fishing

Ashman Lake fishes as a put-grow stillwater: work chironomids under an indicator over the shoals in spring, then leech and attractor retrieves along the drop-offs as the shallows warm. The stocking record below is the truest read on the size and cohort of fish you will find.

waves
Stocked Stillwater
Elk River watershed
water
max 17.1 m
lake survey
egg
Stocked
put-and-take

Conditions

  • Depth: max 17.1 m (BC lake survey 1986-07-23).

Access & the rules

Confirm the launch, parking and any motor/float or seasonal restrictions for Ashman Lake locally before you commit a day; the map shows where the lake sits in its drainage.

gavel

Before you fish

Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4 – Kootenay) before you go. Official synopsis: gov.bc.ca fishing regulations.