Little Wilson Lake is a small put-grow rainbow stillwater east of Wilson Lake in the Slocan River watershed, in BC's West Kootenay. It carries no wild sport fishery of note; every rainbow in it arrived by hatchery truck, and it has been restocked every year since 1984.
The water
The lake covers roughly 26 hectares. A 1969 BC lake survey found a maximum depth of 23.2 m and a mean depth of 11.9 m, with water clarity (Secchi depth) of 8.5 m and a slightly acidic surface pH of 6.8; a follow-up 1981 survey recorded a similar 7 m Secchi reading and pH of 7.3. That is a deep basin for a lake this size, deep enough to hold a cool-water refuge below the warm shoals through summer.
The fishing
Little Wilson is managed purely as a rainbow trout put-grow fishery: hatchery yearlings go in every spring and grow on the lake's natural forage before anglers catch them the following one or two seasons. In spring and early summer, when the water is still cool, work the shoals and shallow margins with a chironomid under an indicator, the standard opening approach on small Kootenay stillwaters. As the shallows warm through summer, follow the fish down the drop-offs into the deeper basin with a balanced leech or bead-head nymph on a slow countdown retrieve. Chironomids, Leeches and scuds are the standard forage base on lakes like this one across the region; no Little Wilson-specific hatch report has turned up to confirm timing on this lake in particular, so treat that as the reasonable starting point rather than a confirmed calendar.
A century-long put-grow program
Stocking
Little Wilson Lake is a long-running put-grow rainbow fishery: 35 recorded releases between 1984 and 2026, all rainbow trout, almost entirely Blackwater R strain yearlings from Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC hatchery stock. The 2026 release put in 2,000 yearlings. The full year-by-year history is below.
Little Wilson Lake — 99,000 fish stocked, 1984–2026
Rainbow Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,000 |
| 2025 | 2,000 |
| 2024 | 2,000 |
| 2023 | 2,000 |
| 2022 | 2,000 |
| 2021 | 2,000 |
| 2020 | 2,000 |
| 2019 | 2,000 |
| 2018 | 2,000 |
| 2017 | 2,000 |
| 2016 | 2,000 |
| 2015 | 2,000 |
| 2014 | 2,000 |
| 2012 | 3,000 |
| 2011 | 3,000 |
| 2010 | 3,000 |
| 2009 | 1,000 |
| 2008 | 1,000 |
| 2006 | 3,000 |
| 2004 | 3,000 |
| 2002 | 3,000 |
| 2000 | 3,000 |
| 1998 | 3,000 |
| 1996 | 3,000 |
| 1994 | 3,000 |
| 1992 | 3,000 |
| 1991 | 3,000 |
| 1990 | 3,000 |
| 1989 | 3,000 |
| 1988 | 3,000 |
| 1987 | 3,000 |
| 1986 | 3,000 |
| 1985 | 13,000 |
| 1984 | 7,000 |
Access and the rules
No named launch, boat ramp or trailhead has been confirmed for Little Wilson Lake. It sits east of Wilson Lake in the Slocan River drainage, off the Nakusp-area backroads; confirm the current access point, parking and any private-land or seasonal restrictions locally before you commit a day to it.
Before you fish
Conditions
- Depth: max 23.2 m, mean 11.9 m, Secchi 8.5 m (BC lake survey, 1969-08-08); a second 1981 survey recorded Secchi 7 m and pH 7.3.
- Stocking: put-grow rainbow trout, Blackwater R strain, roughly 2,000 yearlings a spring, released almost every year from 1984 through 2026.
