The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Stocked Stillwater

Kiakho Creek

A stocked stillwater in the St. Mary River watershed, ~12 ha surface area, carrying Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout and topped up by the provincial stocking program.

Kiakho Creek is a stocked stillwater in the St. Mary River watershed. ~12 ha surface area.

The water

Kiakho Creek sits in the St. Mary River watershed, covering ~12 ha surface area.

Stocking

For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Kiakho Creek is a put-and-take angling fishery, stocked with catchable game fish: 7 recorded releases totalling 342,315 fish (Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout), last stocked 1948-01-01.

Stocking record

Kiakho Creek — 342,315 fish stocked, 1929–1948

Cutthroat Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.

YearCutthroat Trout
194817,835
194720,480
19424,000
193285,000
1931100,000
1930100,000
192915,000

Stocking appears to have wound down after 1948. 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

Kiakho Creek fishes as a put-grow stillwater: work chironomids under an indicator over the shoals in spring, then leech and attractor retrieves along the drop-offs as the shallows warm. The stocking record below is the truest read on the size and cohort of fish you will find.

waves
Stocked Stillwater
St. Mary River watershed
straighten
12 ha
surface area
egg
Stocked
put-and-take

Conditions

  • Navigability: wade water: narrow channel, fish on foot (median channel width ~3.5 m, narrow; median gradient ~1.59%, gentle; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.075 m³/s, very low flow).

Access & the rules

Confirm the launch, parking and any motor/float or seasonal restrictions for Kiakho Creek locally before you commit a day; the map shows where the lake sits in its drainage.

gavel

Before you fish

Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4 – Kootenay) before you go. Official synopsis: gov.bc.ca fishing regulations.