The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Stocked Stillwater

Lund Lake

A small stillwater in the East Kootenay, north of Haha Creek and northwest of Wardner, carrying a long stocking record of rainbow and brook trout that ran from 1926 to 2004 and appears to have since lapsed.

Lund Lake is a small stillwater in the East Kootenay, sitting north of Haha Creek and northwest of Wardner in the Kootenay River valley. It carries a long stocking record, rainbow and brook trout releases stretching from 1926 to 2004, though nothing has been logged since.

The water

Provincial survey crews measured Lund Lake at 9.75 hectares in a 1986 reconnaissance survey, a modest basin reaching 18 m at its deepest point and averaging 6.5 m across, with a surface pH of 8.1. That depth is enough to hold a cool thermocline through summer, unlike the shallow, all-season-warm bowls typical of many East Kootenay put-grow lakes.

Stocking

For a lake with no local fishing report on file, the stocking record is most of the fishing report available. Provincial hatchery records log 68 releases between 1926 and 2004, split between rainbow trout (roughly 220,700 fish) and brook trout (roughly 11,500 fish). The last recorded plant was 2,000 yearling Tunkwa-strain rainbow trout on May 13, 2004; no releases have been logged since, so treat the lake as a lapsed put-grow fishery rather than a currently topped-up one, and confirm locally whether a program still runs here.

Stocking record

Lund Lake — 227,242 fish stocked, 1926–2004

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

YearRainbow TroutBrook Trout
20042,000·
20032,060·
20022,025·
20012,020·
20002,000·
19992,000·
19982,000·
19972,000·
19961,0001,000
19951,0001,000
19941,0001,000
19931,0001,000
19921,0001,000
19911,0521,000
19901,0001,000
19891,0001,000
19881,0001,000
19871,000·
19861,000·
19852,500·
19842,000·
19831,000·
19825,513·
19813,000·
19803,000·
19793,000·
19783,000·
19775,000·
19765,000·
19755,000·
19745,0002,500
19735,000·
19703,000·
19675,000·
195715,000·
19569,000·
195315,000·
19527,500·
19515,000·
19506,282·
194910,000·
194810,000·
19475,000·
194610,000·
19442,500·
194310,000·
19423,000·
19411,585·
19402,705·
19394,000·
19316,000·
19295,000·
19265,000·

The fishing

Lund Lake doesn't carry a public angling report or guide write-up beyond its stocking record, so treat it as an honest, unproven stillwater rather than a confirmed destination. Given the depth profile (18 m max, 6.5 m average), the standard stillwater play is a chironomid fished under an indicator over the shoal water in spring, using the Chironomid Under Indicator rig, then leech and scud patterns worked deeper along any drop-off as the shallows warm and fish slide off the shoals. Match tactics to the season and confirm against a local report before committing a trip.

waves
9.75 ha stillwater
Kootenay River valley, near Wardner
straighten
18 m max depth
6.5 m average, 1986 survey
set_meal
Rainbow & brook trout
68 releases, 1926-2004
block
Program lapsed
no releases recorded since 2004
egg

A long, now-quiet stocking record

Lund Lake carried rainbow and brook trout plantings on and off for most of the twentieth century. The last recorded plant, 2,000 yearling Tunkwa-strain rainbow trout in May 2004, appears to have been the final one; nothing has been logged since. Confirm locally whether the lake still fishes as a put-grow water or has settled into a residual, self-sustaining population.

Access and the rules

No confirmed boat launch, parking area or public access point is on record for Lund Lake. The lake sits north of Haha Creek and northwest of Wardner in the Kootenay River valley. Treat this as an access-check water: confirm a put-in and any private-land or seasonal restrictions locally before committing a day to it.

gavel

Before you fish

No water-specific exception is listed for Lund Lake in the Region 4 synopsis, so the regional default stillwater quotas apply: trout/char 5 daily (max 1 rainbow or cutthroat over 50 cm, max 1 bull trout of any size). A freshwater licence is required for anglers 16 and over. Confirm current rules in the official synopsis before you fish.

Conditions

  • Depth: the province's 1986 reconnaissance survey put Lund Lake at 18 m at its deepest, averaging 6.5 m across a 9.75-hectare basin, with a surface pH of 8.1, a small but genuinely deep stillwater rather than a shallow bowl.
  • Stocking: rainbow and brook trout releases ran from 1926 to 2004 (68 recorded plants, roughly 220,700 rainbow trout and 11,500 brook trout); no releases have been logged since, so treat the program as lapsed pending local confirmation.