The water
Dogsleg Lake sits between Frances Creek and Horsethief Creek, northwest of Invermere in the Columbia River watershed. The province's 1970 survey put it at 9.34 hectares, shallow and even: 9.1 m at its deepest, averaging just 2.5 m across the basin, with a Secchi reading of 3.4 m marking genuinely clear water and an alkaline pH of 8.5.
Stocking
For a small lake like this, the release record is the fishing report. Provincial hatchery records run from 1953 to 2026 and log 31 releases, totalling roughly 115,000 fish. Brook trout appear only in the historical record: four releases between 1961 and 1970, about 56,000 wild fry sourced from Washington-state and Ontario broodstock, a program that stopped over half a century ago and hasn't resumed. Rainbow trout carry the deeper and more current history: an early wild Beaver-strain fry program in 1953-54 (about 30,000 fish), a couple of Premier-strain plants in the late 1980s, then a Fraser Valley-strain program that has run almost every year since 2003, growing from a few hundred fish to a steady 1,500 spring catchables annually since 2016.
Dogsleg Lake — 115,452 fish stocked, 1953–2026
Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Brook Trout |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,500 | · |
| 2025 | 1,500 | · |
| 2024 | 1,500 | · |
| 2023 | 1,500 | · |
| 2022 | 1,500 | · |
| 2021 | 1,500 | · |
| 2020 | 1,500 | · |
| 2019 | 1,500 | · |
| 2018 | 1,500 | · |
| 2017 | 1,500 | · |
| 2016 | 1,500 | · |
| 2015 | 1,000 | · |
| 2014 | 1,000 | · |
| 2013 | 1,000 | · |
| 2012 | 1,000 | · |
| 2011 | 1,000 | · |
| 2010 | 1,000 | · |
| 2009 | 1,000 | · |
| 2008 | 500 | · |
| 2007 | 500 | · |
| 2006 | 500 | · |
| 2005 | 250 | · |
| 2003 | 2,000 | · |
| 1989 | 1,000 | · |
| 1988 | 1,000 | · |
| 1970 | · | 2,000 |
| 1969 | · | 2,000 |
| 1962 | · | 19,950 |
| 1961 | · | 32,200 |
| 1954 | 15,052 | · |
| 1953 | 15,000 | · |
Those Fraser Valley rainbow go in each spring at 225-240 g, already close to catchable size, which marks Dogsleg as a straightforward put-and-take fishery rather than a put-grow lake: the fish you catch this season are this season's plant, not a cohort left to grow out over a summer.
The fishing
No dedicated fishing report for Dogsleg Lake has turned up. Given its size and depth, the water reads as classic small-lake stillwater: shallow and even, with no deep basin to hold fish through summer heat. Chironomid under an indicator is the standard early season approach on a lake this shallow, and general small-lake stillwater tactics are a reasonable starting point until a Dogsleg-specific pattern is confirmed. Chironomids, Leeches and scuds are the general stillwater forage base to expect in a lake of this depth and clarity.
Before you fish
Access and the rules
No confirmed boat launch, parking area or trailhead has been found for Dogsleg Lake. Treat it as an access-check water: confirm a put-in and any private-land or seasonal restrictions locally before committing a day to it.
Conditions
- Depth: the province's 1970 survey put Dogsleg Lake at 9.1 m at its deepest, averaging 2.5 m across the basin, a shallow stillwater with no strong thermal refuge.
- Clarity: Secchi depth of 3.4 m at the same survey, genuinely clear water for a small interior lake.
