The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Stillwater

Echo Lake

A small stillwater on the east side of Upper Arrow Lake, just below Drimmie Creek and south of Revelstoke, about 3.35 hectares. Rainbow trout were stocked here for over five decades, but the record shows no releases since 2004.

The water

Echo Lake is a small stillwater on the east side of Upper Arrow Lake, just below Drimmie Creek and south of Revelstoke, in BC's West Kootenay. It covers about 3.35 hectares, running to a maximum depth of 7.3 m and averaging a shallow 3 m, with neutral water (pH 7.0) per a 1970 provincial reconnaissance survey. Access, launch and parking have not been confirmed; treat it as a walk-in or rough-access lake until that is checked locally.

The fishing

Echo Lake's fishery is rainbow trout on the stocking record alone, no angler report or current survey is on file. Thirty-five releases are logged between 1951 and 2004, roughly 79,000 fry and fingerling across that span, most recently 1,000 Pennask-strain fry planted on 2004-09-08. There has been no recorded release since, over two decades now, so treat this as a formerly stocked lake rather than an active put-and-take fishery until a current count says otherwise.

If it still holds fish, it fishes like the small, shallow stillwater it is: with a mean depth of only 3 m, small-lake stillwater tactics apply across most of the basin rather than just the shoals, a chironomid under an indicator worked at a shallow, consistent depth, small nymphs, and a switch to dries if you find an evening rise.

waves
Stillwater
Upper Arrow Lake watershed
straighten
~3.35 ha
max 7.3 m, mean 3 m
set_meal
Rainbow trout
sole recorded species
history
1951-2004
35 releases, ~79,000 fish; none since
egg

Read the stocking record as the fishing report

Echo Lake has no angler-report survey on file, so the stocking history below is the best evidence of what has ever swum in it: rainbow trout only, planted regularly from 1951 through 2004 and not since. Confirm current fish presence locally before treating it as a destination.

Stocking

Stocking record

Echo Lake — 79,000 fish stocked, 1951–2004

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

YearRainbow Trout
20041,000
20031,000
20021,000
20011,000
20001,000
19991,000
19981,000
19971,000
19961,000
19951,000
19941,000
19922,000
19912,000
19902,000
19892,000
19882,000
19872,000
19862,000
19852,000
19842,000
19832,000
19822,000
19812,000
19802,000
19792,000
19782,000
19772,000
19743,000
19728,000
19718,000
19705,000
19674,000
19653,000
19633,000
19512,000

Conditions

  • Species held: rainbow trout only, all of it historically stocked; no other species on record.
  • Program: put-and-take angling program, lapsed; no releases recorded since 2004.
  • Depth: max 7.3 m, mean 3 m, pH 7.0 (BC lake survey, 1970-06-29).

Access and the rules

Access, launch and parking details for Echo Lake have not been confirmed and still need a field or source check; the coordinate above marks the fish-presence point recorded in the provincial stocking data, not a verified access point. Confirm both the route in and the current regulations before you commit a day to it.

gavel

Before you fish

Echo Lake is not individually listed in the Region 4 synopsis, so the regional defaults apply: trout/char daily quota 5 (no more than 1 rainbow over 50 cm), possession 2× the daily limit. Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4, Kootenay): gov.bc.ca fishing regulations.