Grave Lake is a deep stillwater in the Elk River watershed, sitting north-east of where Grave Creek meets the Elk River in the East Kootenay. At 120.4 hectares and dropping to 28 m at its deepest sounding, it holds more water column than most of the region's put-and-take lakes, and it has carried a stocked fishery for over a century.
The water
The lake covers 120.4 hectares and reaches 28 m at its deepest point, with a mean depth of 17.3 m and water clear enough for a 7.6 m Secchi reading, all from the province's 1985 reconnaissance survey. That combination, deep, clear and mildly alkaline (surface pH 8.2), makes Grave Lake fish more like a small, cold interior lake than a shallow put-and-take pond: the fish have real depth to retreat to once the surface warms.
Stocking
For an angler weighing whether the drive is worth it, the stocking record is the fishing report. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC and its predecessor have logged 110 recorded releases into Grave Lake since 1923, across four species. Rainbow trout were the historic backbone, 88 releases and more than 1.26 million fish, but the last rainbow plant went in back in 2016. Brook trout were stocked three times, all between 1989 and 1991, and haven't been topped up since.
The active program today runs on kokanee: 13 releases and roughly 196,000 fry logged, with most recent years carrying about 12,500 fry a season from Norbury Creek or Lussier River stock (the 2026 release, 12,500 fry, was Norbury Creek strain). Alongside that annual top-up, the lake gets periodic large plants of westslope cutthroat trout yearlings, Connor strain, 104,300 fish across six releases since 2019, including 50,000 in 2025 alone.
Grave Lake — 1,585,207 fish stocked, 1923–2026
Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Kokanee, Brook Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Cutthroat Trout | Kokanee | Brook Trout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | · | · | 12,500 | · |
| 2025 | · | 50,000 | 12,500 | · |
| 2024 | · | · | 2,000 | · |
| 2023 | · | 1,000 | 12,500 | · |
| 2022 | · | 25,800 | 12,500 | · |
| 2021 | · | 2,000 | 12,500 | · |
| 2020 | · | · | 12,500 | · |
| 2019 | · | 25,500 | 6,500 | · |
| 2018 | · | · | 12,500 | · |
| 2016 | 15,099 | · | · | · |
| 2015 | 14,987 | · | · | · |
| 2014 | 15,110 | · | · | · |
| 2013 | 51,335 | · | · | · |
| 2012 | 35,017 | · | · | · |
| 2011 | 35,000 | · | · | · |
| 2010 | 35,000 | · | · | · |
| 2009 | 35,000 | · | · | · |
| 2008 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 2007 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 2006 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 2005 | 12,500 | · | · | · |
| 2004 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 2003 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 2002 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 2001 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 2000 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1999 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1998 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1997 | 5,000 | · | · | · |
| 1996 | 5,000 | · | · | · |
| 1995 | 5,000 | · | · | · |
| 1994 | 15,700 | · | · | · |
| 1993 | 7,000 | · | · | · |
| 1992 | 15,000 | · | · | · |
| 1991 | 10,000 | · | · | 12,000 |
| 1990 | 15,000 | · | · | 12,000 |
| 1989 | 15,054 | · | · | 12,750 |
| 1988 | 5,000 | · | · | · |
| 1987 | 18,200 | · | · | · |
| 1986 | 5,000 | · | · | · |
| 1985 | 5,000 | · | · | · |
| 1984 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1983 | 5,000 | · | · | · |
| 1982 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1981 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1980 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1979 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1978 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1977 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1976 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1975 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1974 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1973 | 12,000 | · | · | · |
| 1972 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1969 | 8,000 | · | · | · |
| 1968 | 79,000 | · | · | · |
| 1966 | 8,800 | · | · | · |
| 1964 | 11,660 | · | · | · |
| 1963 | 11,550 | · | · | · |
| 1960 | 10,000 | · | · | · |
| 1958 | 34,200 | · | · | · |
| 1957 | 30,030 | · | · | · |
| 1955 | 20,000 | · | · | · |
| 1954 | 16,800 | · | · | · |
| 1953 | 17,600 | · | · | · |
| 1952 | 25,000 | · | · | · |
| 1951 | 15,000 | · | · | · |
| 1950 | 8,000 | · | · | · |
| 1949 | 30,000 | · | 30,000 | · |
| 1948 | 15,000 | · | · | · |
| 1947 | 35,000 | · | 30,000 | · |
| 1946 | 30,000 | · | 20,000 | · |
| 1945 | 40,000 | · | 20,000 | · |
| 1943 | 20,000 | · | · | · |
| 1942 | 20,000 | · | · | · |
| 1941 | 19,405 | · | · | · |
| 1940 | 27,360 | · | · | · |
| 1939 | 30,000 | · | · | · |
| 1938 | 14,500 | · | · | · |
| 1932 | 6,750 | · | · | · |
| 1931 | 8,000 | · | · | · |
| 1930 | 9,500 | · | · | · |
| 1923 | 45,000 | · | · | · |
The chart traces the shift: a rainbow-and-brook-trout put-and-take lake through most of the 20th century, now run as an annual kokanee forage-and-catch fishery with periodic large cutthroat trout plants layered on top.
The fishing
No published local fishing report exists yet for Grave Lake, so read the tactics off the water itself. With 17 m of average depth and a 28 m basin, chironomid patterns fished under an indicator over the shoals and inflow is the standard opener on an interior lake like this, moving deeper as the water column warms through the season. Troll or fish leeches and Woolly Buggers along the drop-offs once fish push off the shallows.
The two-species stocking split points to two different fisheries sharing the same water: schooling kokanee for anglers trolling small spoons or flies, and bigger, structure-holding cutthroat for anglers working small-lake stillwater tactics closer to the drop-offs.
A lake that changed programs
Access and the rules
Grave Lake sits back from the highway network, north-east of the Grave Creek/Elk River confluence in the Elk Valley. No boat launch, road access or parking details have been confirmed for this lake: check current Forest Service Road status and the Recreation Sites and Trails BC listings before you plan a trip, and treat the mapped coordinate as approximate rather than a surveyed lake centroid.
Before you fish
Conditions
- Depth: max 28 m, mean 17.3 m, Secchi 7.6 m (BC lake reconnaissance survey, 1985-09-20).
- Water chemistry: surface pH 8.2, mildly alkaline.
- Size: 120.4 ha.
