The water
Boundary Lake sits at the top of Kootenay Pass, on Highway 3 west of Creston, one of a scatter of small backcountry stillwaters in the pass country along with Woodenshoe Lake farther south. No release ever shows up in the provincial stocking record for Boundary Lake, which points to a wild, self-sustaining population rather than a put-and-take fishery: westslope cutthroat, bull trout (locally called Dolly Varden) and brook trout all hold here, likely spawning in the small tributary creeks that feed the lake.
The fishing
Fish Boundary Lake the way you'd fish any small alpine stillwater: work the shoreline and any drop-off with small-lake tactics, and keep flies and leaders on the light side for lake-bound cutthroat and brookies. It earns its keep in mid-summer, when the valley's low-elevation rivers and lakes have warmed past their best; the elevation at the pass keeps the water cool long after the Goat River and other Creston-area waters have gone soft. Chironomids under an indicator and a general match-the-hatch approach through the evening rise are a reasonable starting point until a local report says otherwise.
Bull trout on the line
Access and the rules
The lake has its own Recreation Sites and Trails BC campground on the shore, reached from the Kootenay Pass summit area of Highway 3 west of Creston. The exact access road and trailhead have not been confirmed here, so check current conditions with Recreation Sites and Trails BC or a local shop before you make the drive.
