Box Lake is a small stillwater at the head of Nakusp Creek, east of Upper Arrow Lake, in the Columbia River system in BC's West Kootenay. It holds Kokanee and rainbow trout, and a provincial stocking record running back to 1922 makes the water's story unusually complete for a lake this size.
The water
The lake covers 70.8 hectares, with a maximum depth of 7.3 m and a mean depth of 4.5 m. A 1959 provincial reconnaissance survey (A Reconnaissance Survey of Box Lake) established the bathymetry, and a follow-up 1970 visit recorded a Secchi depth of 5.2 m with surface pH 7.8. That is a modest, moderately clear basin, well within fly range from shore or a small boat, without the deep, cold refuge water some larger Arrow Lakes-system lakes offer.
Stocking
For an angler weighing whether the drive is worth it, the release record is the fishing report. Box Lake has 90 recorded releases between 1922 and 2026, and it splits cleanly into two eras. From 1922 to 2015 it was a rainbow trout water: early plants of wild Gerrard Creek eyed eggs, then decades of Fraser Valley-strain catchables and yearlings, totalling roughly 836,000 rainbow trout over the period. Since 2017 the program has shifted entirely to kokanee: about 7,000 fry released every spring, drawn from the Norbury Creek and Lussier River hatchery strains, with 2026's release the most recent at 6,934 Norbury Creek fry plus 65 Lussier River fry.
Box Lake — 899,705 fish stocked, 1922–2026
Rainbow Trout, Kokanee. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Kokanee |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | · | 6,999 |
| 2025 | · | 7,000 |
| 2024 | · | 7,000 |
| 2023 | · | 7,317 |
| 2022 | · | 7,000 |
| 2021 | · | 7,000 |
| 2020 | · | 7,000 |
| 2018 | · | 7,000 |
| 2017 | · | 7,000 |
| 2015 | 6,000 | · |
| 2014 | 6,000 | · |
| 2013 | 14,000 | · |
| 2012 | 6,000 | · |
| 2011 | 6,000 | · |
| 2010 | 10,000 | · |
| 2009 | 11,000 | · |
| 2008 | 1,000 | · |
| 2007 | 1,000 | · |
| 2006 | 1,000 | · |
| 2005 | 1,000 | · |
| 2004 | 2,500 | · |
| 2003 | 2,500 | · |
| 2002 | 2,500 | · |
| 2001 | 5,000 | · |
| 2000 | 5,000 | · |
| 1999 | 5,000 | · |
| 1998 | 5,000 | · |
| 1997 | 5,000 | · |
| 1996 | 5,000 | · |
| 1995 | 5,000 | · |
| 1994 | 5,000 | · |
| 1993 | 5,000 | · |
| 1992 | 5,000 | · |
| 1991 | 5,000 | · |
| 1990 | 5,000 | · |
| 1989 | 5,000 | · |
| 1988 | 5,000 | · |
| 1987 | 5,000 | · |
| 1986 | 5,000 | · |
| 1985 | 5,000 | · |
| 1984 | 5,000 | · |
| 1983 | 5,000 | · |
| 1982 | 5,000 | · |
| 1981 | 5,000 | · |
| 1980 | 5,000 | · |
| 1979 | 5,000 | · |
| 1978 | 5,000 | · |
| 1977 | 5,000 | · |
| 1976 | 7,000 | · |
| 1975 | 7,000 | · |
| 1974 | 5,600 | · |
| 1973 | 10,000 | · |
| 1972 | 15,000 | · |
| 1971 | 15,000 | · |
| 1965 | 10,000 | · |
| 1964 | 4,000 | · |
| 1962 | 3,015 | · |
| 1961 | 4,000 | · |
| 1960 | 7,000 | · |
| 1959 | 7,000 | · |
| 1958 | 7,000 | · |
| 1957 | 25,000 | · |
| 1956 | 8,000 | · |
| 1953 | 33,000 | · |
| 1952 | 30,000 | · |
| 1951 | 30,000 | · |
| 1950 | 30,000 | · |
| 1949 | 35,000 | · |
| 1948 | 21,900 | · |
| 1947 | 20,000 | · |
| 1946 | 25,000 | · |
| 1945 | 15,000 | · |
| 1944 | 21,374 | · |
| 1943 | 19,000 | · |
| 1942 | 20,000 | · |
| 1941 | 20,000 | · |
| 1940 | 20,000 | · |
| 1939 | 20,000 | · |
| 1938 | 15,000 | · |
| 1937 | 15,000 | · |
| 1936 | 15,000 | · |
| 1935 | 10,000 | · |
| 1933 | 20,000 | · |
| 1931 | 15,000 | · |
| 1928 | 8,000 | · |
| 1927 | 20,000 | · |
| 1926 | 18,000 | · |
| 1922 | 10,000 | · |
That switch matters for how the lake fishes today. A rainbow catchable program puts legal-sized fish straight into the lake each fall; a kokanee fry program does not; each spring's fry need a few seasons on the lake's chironomid and zooplankton forage before they are a targetable fish, so the modern fishery is really several years of fry plants growing up at once rather than a fresh batch of catchables every season.
The fishing
Work Box Lake on standard small-lake stillwater lines. In spring and again in fall, fish a chironomid under an indicator or a small balanced leech over the shoals and drop-offs, where both the surviving rainbow trout and cruising kokanee feed. Through summer, as the shallows warm, kokanee typically pull off the shoals and hold deeper over the lake's 7.3 m basin, which favours trolling small spoons or flies deeper in the water column over shoal-casting. A Woolly Bugger fished slow on a sinking line is a reasonable searching pattern either side of that shift.
Conditions
- Depth: max 7.3 m, mean 4.5 m (BC lake survey, 1959-06-21).
- Clarity and chemistry: Secchi 5.2 m, surface pH 7.8 (BC lake survey, 1970-08-09).
- Stocking today: kokanee fry only, roughly 7,000 released annually since 2017 (Norbury Creek and Lussier River strains); no rainbow trout have been released since 2015.
Access and the rules
Box Lake sits at the head of Nakusp Creek, close to Upper Arrow Lake and the community of Nakusp, in BC's West Kootenay. Confirm the boat launch, shoreline access and any seasonal or motor restrictions locally before you commit a day.
Before you fish
Reel Adventures Fishing Charters lists Box Lake among its West Kootenay lake-fishing locations, alongside Kootenay Lake, Arrow Lake and Duncan Lake.
