Lake Enid is a stocked stillwater in the East Kootenay, sitting just northwest of the north end of Windermere Lake in the Columbia River drainage. It carries rainbow trout and brook trout, and the release ledger runs nearly a century deep.
The water
The lake covers about 22.3 hectares on the province's 1966 limnology survey, which put it at a maximum depth of 8.2 m and an average of 4.1 m, a modest, shallow-leaning stillwater rather than a deep basin. It sits in the Columbia River watershed under waterbody identifier 00585COLR, the same drainage as the Columbia proper where it widens into Windermere Lake nearby.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the drive is worth it, the release record is the honest fishing report here. Provincial hatchery records run from 1929 to 2026 and log 94 releases into Lake Enid. The lake started life as a brook trout fishery: 17 releases between 1929 and 1970, starting with 25,000 wild-sourced fry from Boundary and totalling roughly 426,000 fish, none of it since. Rainbow trout took over from there, first stocked in 1953 and continuing on an annual program ever since, 77 releases and about 222,000 fish through 2026.
Lake Enid — 647,514 fish stocked, 1929–2026
Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Brook Trout |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 5,250 | · |
| 2025 | 5,250 | · |
| 2024 | 5,250 | · |
| 2023 | 5,250 | · |
| 2022 | 5,750 | · |
| 2021 | 5,250 | · |
| 2020 | 5,250 | · |
| 2019 | 5,250 | · |
| 2018 | 5,250 | · |
| 2017 | 5,250 | · |
| 2016 | 5,500 | · |
| 2015 | 5,250 | · |
| 2014 | 5,250 | · |
| 2013 | 5,250 | · |
| 2012 | 5,250 | · |
| 2011 | 5,250 | · |
| 2010 | 1,750 | · |
| 2009 | 5,250 | · |
| 2008 | 1,750 | · |
| 2007 | 1,750 | · |
| 2006 | 750 | · |
| 2005 | 2,450 | · |
| 2004 | 1,653 | · |
| 2003 | 1,750 | · |
| 2002 | 1,750 | · |
| 2001 | 1,000 | · |
| 2000 | 1,750 | · |
| 1999 | 5,000 | · |
| 1998 | 4,000 | · |
| 1997 | 4,000 | · |
| 1996 | 4,000 | · |
| 1995 | 4,000 | · |
| 1994 | 4,000 | · |
| 1993 | 8,000 | · |
| 1992 | 2,080 | · |
| 1991 | 1,000 | · |
| 1990 | 2,500 | · |
| 1989 | 1,000 | · |
| 1988 | 2,100 | · |
| 1987 | 5,000 | · |
| 1986 | 5,000 | · |
| 1970 | · | 6,000 |
| 1969 | · | 3,000 |
| 1968 | · | 10,000 |
| 1967 | · | 40,000 |
| 1966 | · | 50,000 |
| 1965 | · | 50,000 |
| 1964 | · | 55,000 |
| 1963 | · | 49,824 |
| 1962 | · | 9,975 |
| 1961 | · | 19,320 |
| 1960 | · | 16,000 |
| 1959 | · | 20,150 |
| 1958 | · | 15,000 |
| 1957 | 20,160 | · |
| 1955 | 20,000 | · |
| 1954 | 15,052 | · |
| 1953 | 8,000 | · |
| 1932 | · | 17,000 |
| 1931 | · | 20,000 |
| 1930 | · | 20,000 |
| 1929 | · | 25,000 |
The most recent plant, on 2026-04-22, put in 4,500 Blackwater R-strain yearlings alongside 750 Fraser Valley-strain spring catchables, a mix of fresh growers and larger fish ready to be caught that season. That combination, a big yearling cohort plus a smaller catchable top-up, is the current pattern: expect a mix of fish sizes rather than a single year-class.
A rainbow lake now, brook trout in its history
The fishing
No local fishing report has turned up for Lake Enid, so treat the following as a general read on a small put-grow stillwater rather than a confirmed local pattern. With a shallow average depth of 4.1 m, chironomids under an indicator over the shoals should be productive through spring and early summer, moving to leech and attractor retrieves along the drop-off into the 8 m basin as the water warms. Standard small-lake stillwater tactics apply until a local report confirms otherwise.
Access and the rules
No confirmed boat launch, road or parking details have been found for Lake Enid. Treat it as an access-check water: confirm the road in, any private-land or seasonal restrictions, and the exact Region 4 rules that apply before committing a day to it.
Before you fish
Conditions
- Depth: the province's 1966 survey put Lake Enid at 8.2 m at its deepest, averaging 4.1 m across the basin, a shallow-to-moderate stillwater.
- Stocking: actively stocked with rainbow trout every year; the brook trout program that opened the lake in 1929 ended in 1970.
