Baker Creek is a small tributary of Redding Creek, joining it within the upper St. Mary River drainage northeast of Kimberley. Provincial fish records confirm westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout and Dolly Varden here, which puts it inside the same native-trout conservation frame as Redding Creek. No public access point, trail or creek-specific guide coverage has been confirmed, so it currently reads as an identity-and-habitat note rather than a planned trip.
The water
Natural Resources Canada's Geographical Names database lists this water as an official Kootenay Land District creek (key JATNH) at 49.610833, -116.571944, on map sheet 082F10. British Columbia has several creeks named Baker; this is the one that drains into Redding Creek, not any of the province's other namesakes, so treat unmatched photos or reports with caution. The creek runs stream order 3 (low-to-mid on the 1-to-6+ scale used for stream position, where 1 is a headwater trickle and 6+ a full river), with a median channel width around 7.2 m (narrow) and a median gradient around 4.62% (moderately steep), consistent with a small, fast headwater tributary rather than a valley-bottom stream.
The fishing
Local fish-record data shows 9 direct observations on this creek: 6 westslope cutthroat trout, 2 bull trout and 1 Dolly Varden. That is a real native-trout and char signal, and it places Baker Creek inside the wider Redding conservation picture, where bull trout run upstream from the St. Mary River to spawn each late summer and fall. It is not, on its own, evidence of a promoted fishery: no habitat survey, hatch sample or angler report specific to this creek has turned up, and no guide lists it among their waters. St. Mary Angler, Elk River Guiding Company and Kimberley Fly Fishing all cover the St. Mary mainstem, and are useful for regional conditions, but none confirm this tributary as a destination.
Direct hatch data for Baker Creek itself has not been found. Until it is, the working assumption for food and timing follows the East Kootenay hatch spine shared by the St. Mary system: golden Stoneflies near the opener, Green Drakes, PMDs and Light Cahills through summer, Yellow Sallies and Caddisflies (Sedges), summer Terrestrials (Hoppers, Ants, Beetles), fall Blue-Winged Olives, plus fry and Sculpin where the creek connects to larger water.
Small native-trout water: fish it carefully or not at all
If a legal reach is confirmed, small attractor and general East Kootenay patterns are the starting point: Stimulator, Royal Wulff and Adams on top, Elk Hair Caddis for the caddis hatch, and Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, Prince Nymph and Pat's Rubber Legs underneath. Fish small and go easy: this is presence-and-habitat water first.
Access and the rules
No named trailhead, road or put-in for Baker Creek has been confirmed. Regional context only: Tourism Kimberley notes that Redding Creek Road links St. Mary Lake Road to the Grey Creek Pass route, generally passable July through October and best suited to experienced high-clearance 4x4 drivers, but that describes travel through the area, not legal access to fish this specific tributary.
Before you fish
Conditions
- Navigability: small and steep for its size (median width ~7.2 m, narrow; gradient ~4.62%, moderately steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.679 m³/s, low flow), typical of an upper-drainage headwater tributary rather than wadeable valley-bottom water.
- Stocking: no stocking record. Any fish present are wild.
