Little Mitten Lake is a small stocked rainbow stillwater in the upper Columbia Valley, near the community of Parson. Go Fish BC lists it among the region's small-lake gems as a trophy prospect, calling it a water that "can be tricky to fish" and one that appeals to the avid angler rather than a casual put-and-take crowd.
The water
No FISS bathymetric survey is on file for Little Mitten Lake, so its depth and surface area aren't yet confirmed. It lies close to the similarly named Mitten Lake, about a kilometre away, and to Bittern Lake to the south, all three tucked into the same stretch of the upper Columbia Valley near Parson, between the Columbia River and Spillimacheen River drainages.
The fishing
Little Mitten fishes as a put-grow stillwater: rainbow trout go in as small yearlings and grow on the lake's natural forage before anglers catch them, so the fish in the net any given summer are one or more seasons removed from the truck. Go Fish BC's "tricky to fish" note points to a lake that rewards working structure rather than blind casting; that means a chironomid fished slow under an indicator over the shoals, and a balanced leech or Woolly Bugger worked along any drop-offs. The stocking record below is the closest thing to a fishing report this lake has.
A strain history that runs through Gerrard and Premier
Stocking
Little Mitten carries 34 recorded releases of rainbow trout between 1983 and 2026, totalling roughly 26,000 fish. The modern program is consistent: 500 Pennask-strain yearlings dropped every year from 2006 through 2026, twenty-one years running, averaging 5 to 13 grams at release. Before that, the lake ran a fall-fry program through the 1990s and early 2000s, 1,000 to 2,500 fry a year across several strains, with a gap between the first recorded release in 1983 and the resumption of regular stocking in 1993. The full year-by-year history is below.
Little Mitten — 26,000 fish stocked, 1983–2026
Rainbow Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 500 |
| 2025 | 500 |
| 2024 | 500 |
| 2023 | 500 |
| 2022 | 500 |
| 2021 | 500 |
| 2020 | 500 |
| 2019 | 500 |
| 2018 | 500 |
| 2017 | 500 |
| 2016 | 500 |
| 2015 | 500 |
| 2014 | 500 |
| 2013 | 500 |
| 2012 | 500 |
| 2011 | 500 |
| 2010 | 500 |
| 2009 | 500 |
| 2008 | 500 |
| 2007 | 500 |
| 2006 | 500 |
| 2004 | 1,000 |
| 2003 | 1,000 |
| 2002 | 1,000 |
| 2001 | 1,000 |
| 2000 | 1,000 |
| 1999 | 1,000 |
| 1998 | 1,000 |
| 1997 | 1,000 |
| 1996 | 1,000 |
| 1995 | 1,000 |
| 1994 | 1,000 |
| 1993 | 2,000 |
| 1983 | 2,500 |
Access and the rules
No confirmed public launch, trailhead or parking area has turned up for Little Mitten Lake; the only located reference places it near the community of Parson in the upper Columbia Valley, close to Bittern and Mitten lakes. Confirm the access road and any seasonal restrictions locally before planning a trip.
