Peckhams Lake sits in Norbury Lake Provincial Park in the East Kootenay, a stocked put-and-take fishery for rainbow trout a short walk from Norbury Lake itself and a short drive from Horseshoe Lake to the north.
The water
Peckhams covers 13.5 hectares at 835 m elevation, in the Rocky Mountain Trench near the head of Norbury Creek, which drains the lake toward the Kootenay River. A Go Fish BC survey puts the lake at a maximum depth of 9.4 m and a mean of 4.1 m, giving the fish a cool refuge once the shallow shoal water warms through summer. Trembling aspen ring the shoreline, with views east to the Steeples (Hughes Range).
The fishing
Work the shoals and drop-offs rather than the open middle. From April through early June, chironomid patterns fished under an indicator account for most fish, alongside cast or trolled bead-head nymphs, Hare's Ear, Prince and Pheasant Tail among them, switching to dry flies as the hatch progresses through the day. Through the heat of summer, fish slide toward the drop-off; work leeches and dragonfly or damsel nymphs on a full-sink line. As the water cools in fall, chironomids return alongside shrimp and leech patterns fished slow along the bottom.
Put-and-take, not put-grow
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the drive is worth it, the stocking record is the fishing report. Peckhams has been stocked most years since 1938, all with rainbow trout, though the strain and life stage have shifted over the decades. The modern program is Blackwater all-female triploid rainbow: 1,000 to 2,000 yearlings released each spring since 2022, following a run of fall releases at 60 g and up from 2018 through 2021, and Fraser Valley spring catchables in the years before that.
Norbury Lakes — 419,424 fish stocked, 1938–2026
Rainbow Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,000 |
| 2025 | 1,000 |
| 2024 | 1,000 |
| 2023 | 2,000 |
| 2022 | 2,000 |
| 2021 | 2,000 |
| 2020 | 2,304 |
| 2019 | 2,000 |
| 2018 | 1,998 |
| 2017 | 2,000 |
| 2016 | 2,000 |
| 2015 | 2,000 |
| 2014 | 1,800 |
| 2013 | 2,000 |
| 2012 | 2,000 |
| 2011 | 3,500 |
| 2010 | 2,500 |
| 2009 | 2,000 |
| 2008 | 29,370 |
| 2007 | 7,650 |
| 2006 | 9,866 |
| 2005 | 500 |
| 2004 | 500 |
| 2003 | 1,000 |
| 2002 | 1,000 |
| 2001 | 808 |
| 2000 | 1,042 |
| 1999 | 1,000 |
| 1998 | 996 |
| 1997 | 2,123 |
| 1996 | 3,035 |
| 1995 | 2,400 |
| 1994 | 1,580 |
| 1993 | 3,525 |
| 1992 | 3,245 |
| 1991 | 3,447 |
| 1990 | 3,014 |
| 1989 | 3,075 |
| 1988 | 3,498 |
| 1987 | 3,000 |
| 1986 | 3,000 |
| 1985 | 3,000 |
| 1984 | 2,500 |
| 1983 | 5,000 |
| 1981 | 5,000 |
| 1980 | 4,000 |
| 1979 | 5,000 |
| 1978 | 4,000 |
| 1977 | 4,000 |
| 1976 | 8,000 |
| 1975 | 8,000 |
| 1974 | 8,000 |
| 1973 | 8,000 |
| 1972 | 8,000 |
| 1971 | 5,000 |
| 1970 | 10,000 |
| 1969 | 10,000 |
| 1968 | 6,000 |
| 1967 | 5,000 |
| 1966 | 5,280 |
| 1962 | 5,940 |
| 1958 | 30,000 |
| 1957 | 32,768 |
| 1955 | 30,000 |
| 1954 | 13,160 |
| 1949 | 8,000 |
| 1948 | 2,000 |
| 1947 | 3,000 |
| 1946 | 10,000 |
| 1945 | 5,000 |
| 1944 | 3,000 |
| 1943 | 5,000 |
| 1942 | 5,000 |
| 1941 | 8,000 |
| 1940 | 6,000 |
| 1939 | 12,000 |
| 1938 | 3,000 |
Access and the rules
Reach the lake by following the Wardner-Fort Steele Road east from Highway 3/93 at Fort Steele, about 16 km past the Fenwick Road junction. Peckhams has its own picnic area, boat launch with dock, outhouses and potable water; the park's 46-site campground sits at Norbury Lake next door, making the two an easy pairing for a weekend, with Horseshoe Lake a short drive further north for a third stop.
