Cedar Lake sits on the west side of the Columbia River valley at Golden, a compact stillwater that punches well above its 5-hectare size: the 1973 FISS survey found a maximum depth of 25 m and a mean of 11.5 m, unusually deep water for such a small footprint. That combination, small surface, steep-sided basin, is what shapes the fishery: there is little true shoal to speak of, and the lake behaves more like a plunge pool than a typical East Kootenay put-and-take flat.
The water
The lake's clarity runs moderate rather than gin-clear, a 3.4 m Secchi reading with a surface pH of 8.3 on the 1973 survey, consistent with the calcium-rich stillwaters common through the Columbia trench. With that much depth packed into so little surface area, the drop-off is close to shore almost everywhere around the lake, and a summer thermocline is likely to push fish down and off any shallow margins.
The fishing
Cedar Lake's stocking record is the clearest read on what is actually swimming in it, since no on-the-water reports or access notes have turned up in research to date. It has carried rainbow trout on a near-continuous put-grow program for close to a century: 85 recorded releases between 1930 and 2025, mostly wild-source fry through the mid-20th century (Gerrard Creek, Pennask and Beaver Lake broodstock) and, since 2014, roughly 2,000 hatchery-reared Blackwater R strain fry each October. The 2025 release followed that same pattern, 2,000 fry averaging about 1.2 g. Brook trout (Aylmer strain) were also stocked alongside rainbow from 1983 to 1988 but have not been added since; any brookies present now would be residual holdovers rather than a maintained fishery.
Given the annual fall-fry program, the fish on offer in any given season are mostly the prior year's or two years' cohorts growing out on the lake's natural forage. With a steep drop-off close to shore and little exposed shoal, a chironomid under an indicator fished deep along the break, or a leech pattern worked down the drop-off, fits the lake's structure better than shoreline searching. Treat it as a small, deep stillwater rather than a shallow put-and-take pond.
A century of stocking
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the drive to Golden is worth it, that release history is the fishing report. Cedar Lake reads as a genuine put-grow fishery rather than a one-and-done put-and-take pond: the same roughly 2,000-fry autumn drop has repeated most years since the 1990s, giving the lake a standing population of rainbow trout at various growth stages rather than a single stocked cohort. The full year-by-year record, by species, is below.
Cedar Lake — 389,487 fish stocked, 1930–2025
Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Brook Trout |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,000 | · |
| 2024 | 2,000 | · |
| 2023 | 2,000 | · |
| 2022 | 2,000 | · |
| 2021 | 2,000 | · |
| 2020 | 2,500 | · |
| 2019 | 2,000 | · |
| 2018 | 2,000 | · |
| 2017 | 2,000 | · |
| 2016 | 3,000 | · |
| 2014 | 2,000 | · |
| 2012 | 2,000 | · |
| 2011 | 2,000 | · |
| 2010 | 2,000 | · |
| 2009 | 2,000 | · |
| 2008 | 2,000 | · |
| 2007 | 2,000 | · |
| 2006 | 2,000 | · |
| 2005 | 2,000 | · |
| 2004 | 2,000 | · |
| 2003 | 2,000 | · |
| 2002 | 2,000 | · |
| 2001 | 2,000 | · |
| 2000 | 2,000 | · |
| 1999 | 2,000 | · |
| 1998 | 2,000 | · |
| 1997 | 2,000 | · |
| 1996 | 2,000 | · |
| 1995 | 2,000 | · |
| 1994 | 2,000 | · |
| 1993 | 2,000 | · |
| 1992 | 2,000 | · |
| 1991 | 2,000 | · |
| 1990 | 2,000 | · |
| 1988 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 1987 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 1986 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 1985 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 1984 | 6,000 | 2,000 |
| 1983 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 1974 | 11,200 | · |
| 1973 | 18,000 | · |
| 1972 | 5,000 | · |
| 1971 | 18,000 | · |
| 1970 | 2,000 | · |
| 1969 | 11,000 | · |
| 1968 | 4,000 | · |
| 1966 | 4,400 | · |
| 1965 | 4,000 | · |
| 1964 | 4,712 | · |
| 1963 | 2,365 | · |
| 1962 | 2,400 | · |
| 1961 | 3,200 | · |
| 1960 | 5,000 | · |
| 1959 | 5,000 | · |
| 1955 | 10,000 | · |
| 1954 | 9,120 | · |
| 1953 | 6,400 | · |
| 1952 | 10,000 | · |
| 1949 | 15,000 | · |
| 1948 | 10,000 | · |
| 1947 | 10,000 | · |
| 1946 | 10,000 | · |
| 1945 | 10,000 | · |
| 1944 | 10,000 | · |
| 1943 | 10,000 | · |
| 1942 | 10,000 | · |
| 1941 | 6,250 | · |
| 1939 | 13,940 | · |
| 1938 | 13,500 | · |
| 1932 | 20,250 | · |
| 1931 | 6,000 | · |
| 1930 | 11,250 | · |
Access and the rules
No boat launch, trailhead or parking details for Cedar Lake have turned up in research to date. It sits west of the Columbia River near Golden; confirm the access route and any private-land or seasonal restrictions locally before planning a trip. Cedar Lake is not individually listed in the Region 4 freshwater fishing synopsis, so the general Kootenay regional rules and province-wide limits apply.
