The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Tributary Creek

Campbell Creek

A stocked creek in the Kootenay Lake watershed, a tributary of Kootenay River, carrying Westslope Cutthroat, Bull Trout and Rainbow and topped up by the provincial stocking program.

Campbell Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Kootenay River. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow, cutthroat, dolly varden, kokanee.

The water

It flows into Kootenay River within the Kootenay Lake watershed (Kootenay Lake → Kootenay River). It runs stream order 4 (mid-range in the network; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 21 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (26 records).

Stocking

For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Campbell Creek is a kokanee program, a mix of forage stocking and a put-and-take sport fishery: 5 recorded releases totalling 300,000 fish (Kokanee), last stocked 1945-01-01.

Stocking record

Campbell Creek — 300,000 fish stocked, 1939–1945

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

YearKokanee
194550,000
1943100,000
194250,000
194050,000
193950,000

Stocking appears to have wound down after 1945. 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

As a small stream, a tributary of Kootenay River, Campbell 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. The stocking record below is the truest read on what you will catch.

water_drop
Tributary Creek
Kootenay Lake watershed
straighten
Stream order 4
~21 km
set_meal
Westslope Cutthroat and Bull Trout
26 records
egg
Stocked
kokanee program

Conditions

  • Navigability: wade / technical: steep gradient, pocket water (median channel width ~10.4 m, moderate width; median gradient ~5.96%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~2.484 m³/s, low flow).

Access & the rules

Access for Campbell 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.

gavel

Before you fish

Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4 – Kootenay) before you go This water is part of the Kootenay River system.. Official synopsis: gov.bc.ca fishing regulations.