Frozen Lake sits at the head of Elkan Creek, near the headwaters of the Elk River in the East Kootenay. It is small on the surface, just 6.9 hectares, and carries wild and stocked westslope cutthroat trout of the Connor strain.
The water
Frozen Lake covers about 6.9 hectares under the water body identifier 00002ELKR, part of the Elk River drainage. A 1983 preliminary lake survey recorded a maximum depth of 102 metres, extraordinarily deep for a lake barely a few hundred metres across; that combination is more typical of a glacial cirque tarn than a stillwater trout pond, and it means this is a lake with a small warm surface layer over a great deal of cold water underneath.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the release record here is not a put-and-take fishing report, it is a conservation program. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC and its FIDQ predecessor recorded 17 releases of westslope cutthroat trout between 1983 and 2024, totalling 21,125 fish. Every release is the Connor strain, and almost every one is fry, typically about 1,000 fish at a time, going in every two to four years rather than annually. The most recent plant was 1,000 Connor-strain fry on 2024-10-03.
Frozen Lake — 21,125 fish stocked, 1983–2024
Cutthroat Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Cutthroat Trout |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1,000 |
| 2021 | 1,000 |
| 2018 | 1,000 |
| 2016 | 1,000 |
| 2014 | 1,000 |
| 2012 | 1,000 |
| 2010 | 1,000 |
| 2008 | 1,000 |
| 2004 | 1,000 |
| 2002 | 1,000 |
| 2000 | 1,000 |
| 1998 | 1,000 |
| 1996 | 1,125 |
| 1992 | 2,000 |
| 1990 | 2,000 |
| 1985 | 2,000 |
| 1983 | 2,000 |
Small fry batches of a single native strain, spaced out over four decades, read as maintenance of an existing westslope cutthroat population rather than a stocked put-grow fishery. Treat any fish caught here as part of that long-running population, not a fresh season's catchable stock.
The fishing
General alpine stillwater tactics fit a lake this deep and this small: work the shallow margins and any visible shoal with a chironomid under an indicator early in the season, and expect fish to hold deep once the surface warms, given the recorded depth here. That is a read on the lake type, not a confirmed local pattern, since no on-the-water reports have turned up for Frozen Lake specifically.
A maintenance program, not a put-and-take lake
Conditions
- Depth: 102 m recorded maximum, no mean depth or Secchi clarity on record (BC lake survey, 1983-07-02).
Access and the rules
No road, trail or parking details have been confirmed for Frozen Lake. Treat it as a regulation-and-access check before committing a day: confirm the route in from the Elk Valley, any private land or seasonal closures, and the exact Region 4 rules that apply to this water.
