The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Stocked Stillwater

Nixon Lake

A small, moderately deep stillwater in BC's upper Columbia country: five hectares, topped up with Pennask-strain rainbow trout fry roughly every second year since the 1970s, with a single historic wild cutthroat trout transplant on the books from 1940.

Nixon Lake is a small stillwater in BC's upper Columbia country, about five hectares of water carrying a modest, long-running rainbow trout stocking program. It sits close to Redcliff Lake, another small stocked lake about 1.7 km to the northwest, and both are grouped with the province's East Kootenay stocking records.

The water

A 1982 provincial lake survey recorded Nixon Lake at 16 m maximum depth and 8.7 m mean depth across its roughly 5-hectare surface, moderately deep for a lake this size. No mollusc bioindicator survey or aggregate water-health read is on file for it. Rainbow trout are the modern stocked species; a single wild-origin transplant of 5,000 westslope cutthroat trout fry went in back in 1940 and has not been repeated since.

water
~5 ha
surface area
straighten
16 m max / 8.7 m mean
1982 provincial lake survey
set_meal
Rainbow trout
stocked; historic cutthroat transplant (1940)
favorite
No health-signal survey on file
no mollusc bioindicator data

The fishing

No dedicated fishing report for Nixon Lake has turned up. The honest starting point is its depth: with a 16 m hole, it fishes like other moderately deep, small East Kootenay put-and-take lakes, a chironomid under an indicator worked deep over the drop-off from ice-off through early summer, then leech and attractor patterns worked shallower as the water warms. Confirm the pattern on the water; it is a reasonable read from the depth data, not a confirmed local report.

egg

A light, steady program

Nixon Lake has taken 46 recorded releases since 1927. The modern rhythm, in place since the 2000s, is simple: about 1,000 Pennask-strain rainbow trout fry, released roughly every second year (recent drops in 2025, 2023, 2019, 2017, 2013, 2011 and 2009). It is a light put-and-take fishery, not a heavily stocked destination lake like nearby Premier Lake.

Access and the rules

No confirmed public access point, boat launch or trailhead is on file for Nixon Lake, only its provincial fish-inventory coordinate. Confirm road status and any private-land or seasonal restrictions locally before heading in.

gavel

Before you fish

Nixon Lake is not individually listed in the Region 4 synopsis, so the general provincial and Region 4 (Kootenay) rules apply: trout/char daily quota 5, with no more than 1 rainbow or cutthroat trout over 50 cm. Confirm the current regulations at the official synopsis before you go.

Stocking

The full year-by-year release history, coloured by species, is below: rainbow trout stocked most years since 1927, plus the single 1940 westslope cutthroat trout transplant, from the Province of BC (FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases) via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.

Stocking record

Nixon Lake — 221,490 fish stocked, 1927–2025

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

YearRainbow TroutCutthroat Trout
20251,000·
20231,000·
20191,000·
20171,000·
20131,000·
20111,000·
20091,000·
2007500·
20041,000·
20021,000·
20001,000·
19981,000·
19961,000·
19942,000·
19932,000·
19922,000·
19912,000·
19902,000·
19886,000·
19876,000·
19866,000·
19858,000·
19848,000·
19838,000·
19828,000·
19817,000·
19807,000·
19797,000·
19787,000·
19777,000·
19769,000·
19759,000·
197318,000·
197112,000·
19707,000·
19697,000·
19687,000·
19663,520·
19652,000·
19642,900·
19631,100·
19621,020·
19591,000·
19583,450·
1940·5,000
192725,000·