Matthew Creek is a tributary creek flowing into St. Mary River. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow, cutthroat, dolly varden, kokanee.
The water
It flows into St. Mary River within the St. Mary River watershed (St. Mary River → Kootenay River). It runs stream order 5 (well down the network, toward river scale; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 24 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (42 records).
The fishing
As a small stream, a tributary of St. Mary River, Matthew 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.
Conditions
- Navigability: not a casual float: whitewater or canyon evidence on this water; treat as wade unless a guide says otherwise (median channel width ~11.5 m, moderate width; median gradient ~3.58%, moderate; peak mean-annual discharge ~2.29 m³/s, low flow; canyon-confined sections with ~160 m walls (DEM)).
Access & the rules
Access for Matthew 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.
