Kokanee Creek is a small tributary creek feeding the Kootenay Lake / Kootenay River system in the West Kootenay. Its best-documented feature is a fish-stocking record that ran from 1929 to 1952 and hasn't been topped up since. Provincial fish-inventory data also lists westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout, rainbow trout and Kokanee in the creek.
The water
The creek runs stream order 4 (mid-range on a network scale that runs from 1 for a headwater trickle up to 6 or more for a full river) and stretches roughly 20 km, draining toward Kootenay Lake within the wider Kootenay River system. Provincial fish-inventory data logs recorded catches of Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden and Kokanee in this drainage.
The fishing
Stocking stopped in 1952, so treat the release chart below as a historical record rather than a live put-grow program: any fishing here today is on wild or residual fish, not a maintained stocked fishery. Between 1929 and 1952 the Province recorded 34 releases of Kokanee, rainbow trout and westslope cutthroat trout into the creek. The largest and final documented release, in 1952, was 20,000 eyed-egg cutthroat trout, a volume and life stage more typical of spawning-channel or recovery enhancement work than a catchable put-and-take fishery.
Read the chart, not a rumour
Stocking
Kokanee Creek — 3,800,691 fish stocked, 1929–1952
Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Kokanee, Other. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Cutthroat Trout | Kokanee | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | · | 20,000 | 30,000 | · |
| 1951 | 8,733 | · | 30,000 | · |
| 1950 | 8,400 | · | 50,000 | · |
| 1949 | · | · | 300,000 | · |
| 1948 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1947 | · | · | 150,000 | · |
| 1946 | · | · | 30,000 | · |
| 1944 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1943 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1942 | 30,000 | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1941 | · | · | 73,760 | · |
| 1940 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1939 | · | · | 100,000 | · |
| 1938 | · | · | 160,000 | · |
| 1937 | · | · | 370,000 | · |
| 1936 | · | · | 385,000 | · |
| 1935 | · | · | 300,000 | · |
| 1934 | · | · | 413,298 | · |
| 1933 | · | · | 211,000 | · |
| 1932 | · | · | 50,000 | · |
| 1931 | 21,500 | · | 129,000 | · |
| 1930 | · | · | 150,000 | 240,000 |
| 1929 | · | · | 40,000 | · |
The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, via the Province's FIDQ / FISS fish-release records, logged 34 releases into Kokanee Creek between 1929 and 1952: Kokanee, rainbow trout and westslope cutthroat trout. The final and largest release, 20,000 eyed-egg cutthroat trout in 1952, reads like spawning-channel or recovery enhancement rather than a catchable put-and-take program. No releases are on record since.
Conditions
- Navigability: wade / technical water (median channel width ~9.4 m, moderate; median gradient ~4.59%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~2.743 m³/s, low flow), consistent with a small tributary creek rather than drift water.
- Stocking: historical only. Last recorded release 1952; no confirmed current put-grow program.
Access and the rules
No confirmed access points, trailheads or launches are on record for this creek. Treat the map marker as a starting point rather than a confirmed access point, and check current local conditions before you go.
