Milford Lake is a small stocked stillwater on the west side of Kootenay Lake, north of Kaslo, holding rainbow trout and kokanee. Its stocking record runs from 1934 to 2026, making it one of the longer-documented small lakes in the West Kootenay.
The water
Milford Lake covers 2.9 hectares, northwest of Shutty Bench and north of Kaslo, within the Kootenay Lake watershed. No depth or clarity survey is on record for it, honest for a lake this small. A BC Forest Service recreation site named for the lake sits at the water: established in 1980, it carries two rustic campsites with no reservations and no services beyond the cleared sites.
Stocking
For an angler weighing whether the drive is worth it, the release record is the fishing report. Milford Lake has 33 recorded releases between 1934 and 2026. The two earliest, in 1934 and 1939, were eyed-egg transfers of Cottonwood- and Gerrard-strain rainbow trout, standard mid-century BC stocking practice. Gerrard-strain fish continued through the late 1980s, then the program shifted to Pennask-strain rainbow trout from 1991 onward, delivered most years as yearlings or fall fry in batches of 500 to 1,000 fish from the Beaver Lake hatchery station. Since 2017, a small kokanee fry release, roughly 200 fish a year sourced from Bridge, Sulphurous, Lussier River and Norbury Creek stock, has run alongside the rainbow program most seasons. The 2026 release was 200 Pennask-strain rainbow trout yearlings and 200 Norbury Creek-strain kokanee fry, both stocked June 15.
Milford Lake — 48,657 fish stocked, 1934–2026
Rainbow Trout, Kokanee. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Kokanee |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 200 | 200 |
| 2025 | 200 | 200 |
| 2024 | 212 | 200 |
| 2023 | · | 200 |
| 2022 | 1,000 | 200 |
| 2021 | · | 200 |
| 2020 | 1,000 | 200 |
| 2018 | 1,000 | 200 |
| 2017 | · | 200 |
| 2016 | 1,000 | · |
| 2014 | 1,000 | · |
| 2012 | 1,000 | · |
| 2010 | 1,000 | · |
| 2008 | 1,000 | · |
| 2006 | 500 | · |
| 2001 | 1,000 | · |
| 1999 | 3,000 | · |
| 1997 | 1,000 | · |
| 1995 | 1,000 | · |
| 1991 | 1,000 | · |
| 1990 | 1,000 | · |
| 1989 | 1,000 | · |
| 1988 | 1,000 | · |
| 1987 | 1,000 | · |
| 1986 | 1,000 | · |
| 1939 | 15,000 | · |
| 1934 | 10,745 | · |
That history reads as a small, steady put-and-take fishery rather than a trophy destination. A 2.9-hectare lake draws modest annual plants, not the tens of thousands a big park lake carries. The rainbow trout are the program; the kokanee, present only since 2017 and never released above 200 fish a year, are a minor addition, not a fishery to plan a trip around.
The fishing
Fish Milford Lake on small-lake stillwater lines: it is small enough that shoreline and shallow-water tactics cover most of the productive water. Work a chironomid under an indicator or a small nymph along any drop-off or weed edge, and expect rainbow trout sized to a lightly stocked small lake rather than trophy fish. Any kokanee taken here are incidental, a young forage-and-diversity addition rather than an established fishery of their own.
Conditions
- Size: 2.9 ha; no depth or clarity survey is on record.
- Stocking today: Pennask-strain rainbow trout yearlings (200 in 2026) plus a small kokanee fry release (200 in 2026, Norbury Creek strain), both released June 15, 2026.
- Program: classified as a put-and-take angling fishery; the kokanee addition is too small in volume to register as a dedicated kokanee program.
Access and the rules
Milford Lake sits on the west side of Kootenay Lake, north of Kaslo and northwest of Shutty Bench. A BC Forest Service recreation site at the lake, established in 1980, has two rustic campsites and no services; reach it by the forest service road network on that side of the lake, and confirm current road status before heading in.
