Nine Mile Creek is a short tributary of Hamill Creek, joining it above the lower Duncan River and Duncan Lake. The name repeats elsewhere in the region: a separate Nine Mile Creek drains into the Kootenay River well to the south, so this page covers only the Duncan Lake watershed water, carrying the official Kootenay Land District name (key JAZRG) at 50.254444, -116.788889.
The water
NRCan lists this Nine Mile Creek at 50.254444, -116.788889 on map sheet 082K07, on the same general network as Hamill Creek, Clint Creek, Crazy Creek and McLaughlin Creek. The local waterway index places it at stream order 3 (low on a network scale that runs from 1 for a headwater trickle up to 6 or more for a full river) and roughly 4 km long before it joins Hamill Creek, which empties into the Duncan River above Duncan Lake. No channel-geometry survey (width, gradient, discharge) is attributed to this creek in the regional bcfishpass dataset. A named-line extraction of the local fish-record index found zero direct observations on this Nine Mile Creek itself.
The fishing
There is no confirmed catch record, guide coverage or fishing report naming this Nine Mile Creek directly, so it is not destination water on current evidence. It sits, however, inside the same Hamill Creek drainage that provincial Bull Trout redd-count and Kootenay Lake fisheries work treats as a real spawning-system contributor, alongside Clint Creek, Crazy Creek and the wider lower-Duncan tributary group. That context is a reason for caution rather than an invitation: any fish encountered here should be handled as part of that wider spawning population, not a bonus creek to prospect hard.
At roughly 4 km and order 3, the creek is short enough that its status as fish-bearing water in any season is not established. If it does prove fish-bearing and legal to fish, the modest headwater profile calls for small, searching patterns fished on a short line: a Stimulator or Royal Wulff as an attractor dry, an Elk Hair Caddis or Adams for a quieter presentation, a Prince Nymph as the go-to nymph, and a small Woolly Bugger for any deeper pocket water. Expect the same small-stream diet documented for Hamill Creek: Mayflies, Caddisflies (Sedges), Stoneflies and Terrestrials (Hoppers, Ants, Beetles), plus opportunistic small fish where the channel connects to larger water. Default to fishing Hamill Creek itself, with confirmed bull trout, rainbow trout and longnose dace records, rather than prospecting this creek.
Confirm you have the right Nine Mile Creek
Access and the rules
No named trailhead, parking area or public access point has been confirmed for this Nine Mile Creek. It sits within the wider Hamill Creek drainage, in reach of the Earl Grey Pass Trail corridor that climbs out of Argenta through Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Park, but no route or crossing specific to this creek is documented. Confirm current access, private-land boundaries and park advisories before planning a trip.
Before you fish
Conditions
- Navigability: no channel-geometry survey (width, gradient, discharge) is attributed to this creek in the regional dataset; the order-3 classification and roughly 4 km length are the only size signal available, consistent with a minor headwater feeder rather than fishable mainstem water.
- Stocking: no stocking record. Any fish present would be wild.
