Kaufman Lake is a small stillwater in the East Kootenay, held by rainbow trout, westslope cutthroat trout and brook trout. No location description, surface area or depth survey is on file for it, and no lake-specific fishing report has turned up, so this is a working read built from its stocking record rather than a field-tested guide.
The water
The lake sits in the Kootenay-Columbia basin; its exact drainage and outflow have not been confirmed. Fifteen recorded releases span 1982 to 2010, mixing all three species over that stretch, which points to a lake managed as a small, low-traffic put-and-take fishery rather than a marquee stillwater.
The fishing
With no dedicated report for Kaufman, the honest starting point is the same small-lake program that works across the region's stocked stillwaters: chironomid under an indicator fished over the shoals in spring and early summer, then leech and attractor retrieves worked along any drop-off as the water warms. Confirm that read against a local source before you plan a trip around it.
A stocking program that appears to have stopped
Access and the rules
No launch, trailhead or road access has been confirmed for Kaufman Lake. It is not individually listed in the Region 4 synopsis on record, so the general provincial and Region 4 (Kootenay) rules apply.
Before you fish
Stocking
The full year-by-year release history, coloured by species, is below: rainbow, westslope cutthroat and brook trout released between 1982 and 2010, from the Province of BC (FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases) via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
Kaufman — 13,484 fish stocked, 1982–2010
Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Brook Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Cutthroat Trout | Brook Trout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | · | 1,000 | · |
| 2005 | · | 500 | · |
| 2003 | · | 500 | · |
| 2001 | 500 | · | · |
| 1999 | 500 | · | · |
| 1997 | 500 | · | · |
| 1995 | 500 | · | 500 |
| 1993 | 500 | · | 500 |
| 1990 | 500 | · | 500 |
| 1983 | 4,734 | · | · |
| 1982 | 2,250 | · | · |
