Cottonwood 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 11 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (149 records). Named tributaries in the index: Giveout Creek, Selous Creek, Gold Creek.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Cottonwood Creek is a kokanee program, a mix of forage stocking and a put-and-take sport fishery: 21 recorded releases totalling 1,004,810 fish (Rainbow Trout, Kokanee), last stocked 1958-01-01.
Cottonwood Creek — 1,004,810 fish stocked, 1927–1958
Rainbow Trout, Kokanee. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Kokanee |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 144 | · |
| 1951 | · | 45,989 |
| 1949 | 6,300 | 250,000 |
| 1948 | · | 25,900 |
| 1947 | · | 182,980 |
| 1944 | 83,861 | 100,000 |
| 1943 | 5,972 | 70,000 |
| 1942 | 4,000 | 25,740 |
| 1941 | · | 41,700 |
| 1939 | · | 30,044 |
| 1930 | · | 70,000 |
| 1929 | 38,180 | · |
| 1928 | 12,000 | · |
| 1927 | 12,000 | · |
Stocking appears to have wound down after 1958. 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, Cottonwood 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.
Conditions
- Navigability: mixed, confirm access and flow before choosing drift vs wade (median channel width ~10.7 m, moderate width; median gradient ~2.4%, moderate; peak mean-annual discharge ~1.605 m³/s, low flow).
Access & the rules
Access for Cottonwood 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.
