Goathoof Creek is a small tributary of the Bull River in the East Kootenay, mapped at roughly 2 km with no fish survey of its own. It sits deep in a cluster of similarly tiny, unstudied Bull River feeders, so what little can be said about it comes from the shape of the wider drainage rather than direct observation.
The water
The creek's mouth sits at 49.75583, -115.28648, in the local watershed model used to map the upper Bull River tributary network. It runs stream order 2 (a headwater trickle, near the bottom of a scale that runs from 1 up to 6 or more for a full river) over about 2 km before joining the Bull. No provincial fish-inventory record exists for Goathoof itself; any sportfish presence is inferred from the surrounding network rather than confirmed on this specific creek.
The fishing
There is no direct evidence, positive or negative, that Goathoof holds fish. If it is perennial and connected to the Bull River system, Westslope Cutthroat Trout would be the most plausible resident, the way they turn up through most small, cold Bull River feeders in this cluster. Until a survey or a firsthand report confirms that, this is a water to note on the map rather than plan a day around.
If Goathoof does hold trout, the food base would follow the same regional pattern as the rest of the Bull River drainage: Caddisflies (Sedges) hatching from mid-June into fall, Mayflies through summer, small stoneflies, and Terrestrials (Hoppers, Ants, Beetles) like ants, beetles and hoppers once the water drops in August. A small-stream box built around an Adams, Elk Hair Caddis and Stimulator, with a few small nymphs for the deeper pockets, matches what works on the rest of the Bull River's small tributaries.
A map note, not a destination
Conditions
- Navigability: no channel-geometry data is available for a creek this small; expect small-stream, wade-only water if it carries flow year-round.
- Stocking: no stocking record. Any fish here would be wild.
Access and the rules
No trailhead, road or put-in has been confirmed for Goathoof Creek. It sits in the same upper Bull River backcountry as Netherlands and Nukpook creeks, reached, if at all, from the same forest service road network off the Bull River valley.
