The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Stocked Stillwater

Blake

A stocked stillwater in the St. Mary River watershed, surface area not recorded, carrying Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout and topped up by the provincial stocking program.

Blake is a stocked stillwater in the St. Mary River watershed. Surface area not recorded.

The water

Blake sits in the St. Mary River watershed, covering surface area not recorded.

Stocking

For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Blake is a put-and-take angling fishery, stocked with catchable game fish: 3 recorded releases totalling 5,000 fish (Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout), last stocked 1994-09-02.

Stocking record

Blake — 5,000 fish stocked, 1989–1994

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

YearCutthroat Trout
19941,000
19922,000
19892,000

Stocking appears to have wound down after 1994. 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

Blake 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
St. Mary River watershed
egg
Stocked
put-and-take

Access & the rules

Confirm the launch, parking and any motor/float or seasonal restrictions for Blake 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.