The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Tributary Creek

Lamb Creek

A stocked creek in the Kootenay Lake watershed, a tributary of Moyie River, carrying Westslope Cutthroat, Bull Trout and Rainbow and topped up by the provincial stocking program.

Lamb Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Moyie River. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow, cutthroat, dolly varden, kokanee.

The water

It flows into Moyie River within the Kootenay Lake watershed (Kootenay Lake → Kootenay 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 (48 records). Named tributaries in the index: Little Lamb Creek, Whitney Creek, Gold Hill Creek, Tate Creek.

Stocking

For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Lamb Creek is a kokanee program, a mix of forage stocking and a put-and-take sport fishery: 17 recorded releases totalling 632,119 fish (Kokanee, Rainbow Trout), last stocked 1998-05-12.

Stocking record

Lamb Creek — 632,119 fish stocked, 1981–1998

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

YearRainbow TroutKokanee
1998·100,000
1995·100,000
1994·100,000
199334,940·
19903,000·
19893,000·
19873,000·
19863,000·
19852,000125,000
19842,000·
19832,00051,000
19822,000·
19811,179100,000

Stocking appears to have wound down after 1998. 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 Moyie River, Lamb 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.

water_drop
Tributary Creek
Kootenay Lake watershed
straighten
Stream order 4
~22 km
set_meal
Westslope Cutthroat and Bull Trout
48 records
egg
Stocked
kokanee program

Conditions

  • Navigability: mixed, confirm access and flow before choosing drift vs wade (median channel width ~7.5 m, moderate width; median gradient ~2.01%, moderate; peak mean-annual discharge ~1.028 m³/s, low flow).

Access & the rules

Access for Lamb 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.

gavel

Before you fish

Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4 – Kootenay) before you go This water is part of the Moyie River system.. Official synopsis: gov.bc.ca fishing regulations.