Bonanza Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Big Sheep Creek. Recorded fish: rainbow, kokanee.
The water
It flows into Big Sheep Creek within the Lower Arrow Lake watershed (Lower Arrow Lake → Columbia River). It runs stream order 2 (high in the network, near the headwaters; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 1 km. Rainbow Trout, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (25 records).
The fishing
As a small stream, a tributary of Big Sheep Creek, Bonanza Creek fishes the way creeks of its size do: short drifts with a buoyant attractor dry over a light dropper, working the pocket water and the heads of pools. Match the fly box to the season and confirm against a current local report.
Conditions
- Navigability: driftable with caution: wide, low-gradient sections suit a float/raft, but rated rapids or canyon-confined reaches interrupt them; check the drift map (median channel width ~9.8 m, moderate width; median gradient ~0.67%, very gentle; peak mean-annual discharge ~2.766 m³/s, low flow; canyon-confined sections with ~90 m walls (DEM)).
Access & the rules
Access for Bonanza Creek, meaning the roads in, put-ins and any walk-in or seasonal limits, is worth confirming locally before you commit a day. The drainage map shows how the water sits in its valley.
