Hill Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Columbia River. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow, cutthroat, dolly varden, kokanee.
The water
It flows into Columbia River within the Upper Arrow Lake watershed (Upper Arrow Lake → Columbia River). It runs stream order 4 (mid-range in the network; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 22 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (128 records).
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Hill Creek is a kokanee program, a mix of forage stocking and a put-and-take sport fishery: 109 recorded releases totalling 8,384,564 fish (Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout, Kokanee, Dolly Varden), last stocked 1999-10-28.
Hill Creek — 8,369,333 fish stocked, 1939–1999
Rainbow Trout, Kokanee, Bull Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Kokanee | Bull Trout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,185 | 357,784 | 4,568 |
| 1998 | 3,424 | 172,745 | 6,684 |
| 1997 | 6,634 | 245,061 | 392 |
| 1996 | 7,235 | 435,571 | 1,140 |
| 1995 | 15,377 | 167,086 | 2,467 |
| 1994 | 10,168 | 123,695 | 7,544 |
| 1993 | 10,192 | 501,131 | 11,541 |
| 1992 | 28,290 | · | 13,998 |
| 1991 | 27,041 | · | 19,913 |
| 1990 | 27,695 | · | 11,822 |
| 1989 | 24,464 | · | 1,029 |
| 1988 | 28,374 | · | 8,424 |
| 1987 | 45,429 | · | · |
| 1986 | 26,863 | 173,964 | · |
| 1985 | 43,865 | 175,000 | · |
| 1984 | 15,000 | · | · |
| 1983 | 3,116 | · | · |
| 1982 | 3,000 | 1,812,600 | · |
| 1981 | 2,500 | 2,113,300 | · |
| 1980 | 1,500 | 250,000 | · |
| 1979 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1978 | 1,560 | 1,309,500 | · |
| 1952 | 15,000 | · | · |
| 1950 | 15,000 | · | · |
| 1949 | 15,000 | · | · |
| 1946 | 9,712 | · | · |
| 1945 | 10,000 | · | · |
| 1944 | 10,000 | · | · |
| 1943 | 9,750 | · | · |
| 1942 | 10,000 | · | · |
| 1939 | 10,000 | · | · |
Stocking appears to have wound down after 1999. Confirm whether it is still topped up or now fishes as a residual, wild population. The chart below shows the full release history.
The fishing
As a small stream, a tributary of Columbia River, Hill Creek fishes the way creeks of its size do: short drifts with a buoyant attractor dry over a light dropper, working the pocket water and the heads of pools. The stocking record below is the truest read on what you will catch.
Conditions
- Navigability: wade / technical: steep gradient, pocket water (median channel width ~7.2 m, moderate width; median gradient ~5.12%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~1.019 m³/s, low flow).
Access & the rules
Access for Hill Creek, meaning the roads in, put-ins and any walk-in or seasonal limits, is worth confirming locally before you commit a day. The drainage map shows how the water sits in its valley.
