The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Tributary Creek

Norbury Creek

A stocked creek in the St. Mary River watershed, a tributary of Kootenay River, carrying Westslope Cutthroat, Bull Trout and Rainbow and topped up by the provincial stocking program.

Norbury Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Kootenay River. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow, cutthroat, dolly varden, kokanee.

The water

It flows into Kootenay 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 10 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (360 records). Named tributaries in the index: Mause Creek.

Stocking

For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Norbury Creek is a kokanee program, a mix of forage stocking and a put-and-take sport fishery: 35 recorded releases totalling 1,053,820 fish (Kokanee, Rainbow Trout, Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout, Brook Trout), last stocked 2021-11-08.

Stocking record

Norbury Creek — 1,053,820 fish stocked, 1929–2021

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

YearRainbow TroutCutthroat TroutKokaneeBrook Trout
2021··774,245·
2020··148,559·
2019··50,410·
199968···
199721···
199635···
199540···
199462···
1993134···
199250···
199150···
199018···
198938···
198850···
1987402,000··
1965···50,000
1963·10,500··
1962·10,000··
1929·7,500··

Stocking appears to have wound down after 2021. Confirm whether it is still topped up or now fishes as a residual, wild population. The chart below shows the full release history.

The fishing

As a small stream, a tributary of Kootenay River, Norbury 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. The stocking record below is the truest read on what you will catch.

water_drop
Tributary Creek
St. Mary River watershed
straighten
Stream order 5
~10 km
set_meal
Westslope Cutthroat and Bull Trout
360 records
egg
Stocked
kokanee program

Conditions

  • Navigability: driftable: wide, low-gradient sections suit a float/raft (median channel width ~9.7 m, moderate width; median gradient ~0.21%, very gentle; peak mean-annual discharge ~1.278 m³/s, low flow).

Access & the rules

Access for Norbury 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.

gavel

Before you fish

Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4 – Kootenay) before you go This water is part of the Kootenay River system.. Official synopsis: gov.bc.ca fishing regulations.