Barren Lake is a small stillwater in the Elk River watershed of the East Kootenay. It has no recorded surface area, no lake survey and no confirmed access, but it has one hard fact on the record: a quarter-century of stocking with wild westslope cutthroat trout.
The water
Barren Lake sits in the Elk River drainage; its exact size, depth and shoreline character have not turned up in any survey or report. The coordinate carried here is the point recorded against its stocking releases, not a surveyed fix, so treat it as approximate until confirmed on the ground.
The fishing
Every fish put into Barren Lake was a wild-origin, Connor-strain westslope cutthroat trout fry, released ten times between 1986 and 2012 in batches of 1,000 to 2,000 fish, roughly 13,000 fry in total. Nothing has been stocked since 2012, so whatever is swimming there now is either a long-lived holdover or a self-sustaining population, and neither has been confirmed. Fish it on standard small-lake lines until a local report says otherwise: chironomids under an indicator over any shoal structure, balanced leech or Woolly Bugger retrieves along the drop-offs, and a searching dry like an Adams on a calm evening.
Stocking
The release record below is the whole fishing report for Barren Lake: a steady, small biennial stocking of wild-origin fry from 1986 through 2012, then nothing.
Barren — 13,000 fish stocked, 1986–2012
Cutthroat Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Cutthroat Trout |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 1,000 |
| 2010 | 1,000 |
| 2008 | 1,000 |
| 2004 | 1,000 |
| 2002 | 1,000 |
| 2000 | 1,000 |
| 1996 | 1,000 |
| 1992 | 2,000 |
| 1990 | 2,000 |
| 1986 | 2,000 |
A lapsed program
Access and the rules
No road, launch, trailhead or parking information has turned up for Barren Lake. Confirm access locally, and check the current westslope cutthroat limits and any bait, motor or ice-fishing restrictions for this water before you fish.
