Hart Lake is a small stillwater in the Elk River watershed of the East Kootenay, close to the Alberta border. It has no recorded surface area, no lake survey and no confirmed access, but it carries one long, clear record: more than 50 years of provincial stocking that ran from 1938 to 1992 and then stopped.
The water
Hart Lake's provincial waterbody identifier ties it to the Elk River drainage, but its size, depth and shoreline character have not turned up in any survey. The mapped coordinate is the fish-presence point recorded against its stocking releases, not a surveyed lake centroid, so treat it as approximate until confirmed on the ground.
The fishing
Every fish ever recorded going into Hart Lake was either a westslope cutthroat trout or a rainbow trout, released across three distinct eras: nearly 55,000 eyed cutthroat trout eggs in 1938 and 1939, before the westslope/rainbow strain bookkeeping used today; Kiakho-strain westslope cutthroat fry through the 1940s and into 1958 (five releases, about 29,000 fish); four modest rainbow trout plantings between 1940 and 1963 (roughly 6,400 fish); and a final run of wild Connor-strain westslope cutthroat fry from 1986 to 1992. Nothing has gone in since. Any fish holding in Hart Lake today is either a long-lived holdover or evidence of a self-sustaining population, and neither has been confirmed.
Fish it on standard small-lake lines until a local report says otherwise: chironomids under an indicator over any shoal structure, a balanced leech or Woolly Bugger worked along the drop-offs, and a searching dry such as an Adams on a calm evening.
Stocking
The release record is the whole fishing report for Hart Lake, and it stops abruptly. Provincial hatchery records log 16 releases between 1938 and 1992, totalling roughly 102,000 fish. The earliest plants, close to 55,000 eyed cutthroat trout eggs in 1938 and 1939, predate the westslope/rainbow strain bookkeeping used today. Through the 1940s and into 1958, the lake was topped up with Kiakho-strain westslope cutthroat trout fry, five releases totalling about 29,000 fish, and four small rainbow trout plantings went in between 1940 and 1963, roughly 6,400 fish. The last activity was a cluster of wild Connor-strain westslope cutthroat fry releases from 1986 to 1992, finishing with 1,000 fall fry on September 1, 1992. Nothing has followed.
Hart — 102,275 fish stocked, 1938–1992
Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Cutthroat Trout |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | · | 1,000 |
| 1989 | · | 1,000 |
| 1988 | · | 1,000 |
| 1986 | · | 4,000 |
| 1963 | 1,230 | · |
| 1961 | 1,260 | · |
| 1960 | 1,955 | · |
| 1958 | · | 5,000 |
| 1946 | · | 5,000 |
| 1945 | · | 10,000 |
| 1944 | · | 5,000 |
| 1943 | · | 4,000 |
| 1942 | · | 5,000 |
| 1940 | 2,000 | · |
| 1939 | · | 25,000 |
| 1938 | · | 29,830 |
A program that stopped, not paused
Access and the rules
No road, launch, trailhead or parking information has turned up for Hart Lake. Confirm access locally, and check the current westslope cutthroat and rainbow trout limits and any bait, motor or ice-fishing restrictions for this water before you fish.
Before you fish
Conditions
- Location: the mapped coordinate is the fish-presence point tied to Hart Lake's stocking releases, not a surveyed lake centroid; confirm it on the ground.
- Depth and size: no lake survey or bathymetry record has turned up for Hart Lake; treat area and depth as unknown until one does.
- Stocking status: lapsed since 1992, more than three decades with no recorded release.
