The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Tributary Creek

Lewis Creek

A creek in the Kootenay Lake watershed, a tributary of Ridgeway Creek, holding Westslope Cutthroat in provincial fish-inventory records.

Lewis Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Ridgeway Creek. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat.

The water

It flows into Ridgeway Creek within the Kootenay Lake watershed (Kootenay Lake → Kootenay River). It runs stream order 2 (high in the network, near the headwaters; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 4 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (3 records).

The fishing

As a small stream, a tributary of Ridgeway Creek, Lewis 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. Match the fly box to the season and confirm against a current local report.

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Tributary Creek
Kootenay Lake watershed
straighten
Stream order 2
~4 km
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Westslope Cutthroat
3 records
footprint
Wade / Technical

Conditions

  • Navigability: wade / technical: steep gradient, pocket water (median channel width ~4.8 m, narrow; median gradient ~6.67%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.741 m³/s, very low flow; canyon-confined sections with ~86 m walls (DEM)).

Access & the rules

Access for Lewis 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.

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Before you fish

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