Premier is the lake other East Kootenay stillwaters are measured against. It sits in its own 229-hectare provincial park north of Skookumchuck, roughly 72 km up Highway 93/95 from Cranbrook, and it fishes the way it does for one reason: it is stocked hard, and it has been for a century.
For an angler weighing where to go, the stocking record is the fishing report. Here is every recorded release into Premier — the story is the modern put-grow program, a steady wall of Blackwater rainbow topped up every spring.
Premier Lake — 5,614,355 fish stocked, 1915–2026
Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Kokanee. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Cutthroat Trout | Kokanee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 56,465 | · | · |
| 2025 | 54,626 | · | · |
| 2024 | 55,119 | · | · |
| 2023 | 55,000 | · | · |
| 2022 | 56,052 | · | · |
| 2021 | 53,562 | · | · |
| 2020 | 55,000 | · | · |
| 2019 | 55,065 | · | · |
| 2018 | 55,232 | · | · |
| 2017 | 55,412 | · | · |
| 2016 | 62,807 | · | · |
| 2015 | 55,484 | · | · |
| 2014 | 55,621 | · | · |
| 2013 | 49,970 | · | · |
| 2012 | 50,164 | · | · |
| 2011 | 30,000 | · | · |
| 2010 | 20,000 | · | · |
| 2009 | 40,052 | · | · |
| 2008 | 50,387 | · | · |
| 2007 | 56,778 | · | · |
| 2006 | 53,417 | · | · |
| 2005 | 50,000 | · | · |
| 2004 | 50,050 | · | · |
| 2003 | 50,000 | · | · |
| 2002 | 50,000 | · | · |
| 2001 | 49,250 | · | · |
| 2000 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1999 | 65,274 | · | · |
| 1998 | 65,500 | · | · |
| 1997 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1996 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1995 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1994 | 79,305 | · | · |
| 1993 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1992 | 50,000 | · | · |
| 1990 | 105,000 | · | · |
| 1989 | 80,000 | · | · |
| 1988 | 80,000 | · | · |
| 1987 | 58,100 | · | · |
| 1986 | 140,000 | · | · |
| 1985 | 25,000 | · | · |
| 1984 | 385,000 | · | · |
| 1983 | 65,070 | · | · |
| 1982 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1981 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1980 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1979 | 81,057 | · | · |
| 1978 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1977 | 65,000 | · | · |
| 1976 | 75,000 | · | · |
| 1975 | 75,000 | · | · |
| 1974 | 75,000 | · | · |
| 1973 | 75,000 | · | · |
| 1972 | 76,000 | · | · |
| 1971 | 50,000 | · | · |
| 1970 | 50,000 | · | · |
| 1969 | 50,000 | · | · |
| 1968 | 151,000 | · | · |
| 1967 | 30,000 | · | · |
| 1966 | 19,645 | · | · |
| 1965 | 36,000 | · | · |
| 1964 | 30,725 | · | · |
| 1963 | 66,680 | · | · |
| 1958 | 25,000 | · | · |
| 1957 | 42,800 | · | · |
| 1955 | 52,300 | · | · |
| 1954 | 58,240 | · | · |
| 1953 | 48,585 | · | · |
| 1952 | 45,000 | · | · |
| 1951 | 30,000 | · | · |
| 1950 | 32,000 | · | · |
| 1949 | 21,455 | · | · |
| 1948 | 20,121 | · | · |
| 1947 | 27,000 | · | · |
| 1946 | 24,365 | · | · |
| 1944 | 21,800 | · | · |
| 1943 | 48,040 | · | · |
| 1942 | 79,025 | · | · |
| 1941 | 18,500 | 20,645 | · |
| 1940 | 28,010 | · | 80,000 |
| 1939 | 49,100 | · | · |
| 1938 | 17,000 | · | · |
| 1933 | 24,000 | · | · |
| 1932 | 15,000 | 82,500 | · |
| 1931 | 50,000 | 86,000 | · |
| 1930 | 11,000 | 60,000 | · |
| 1929 | 12,000 | 75,000 | · |
| 1926 | 100,000 | · | · |
| 1925 | 60,000 | · | · |
| 1923 | 100,000 | · | · |
| 1918 | 25,000 | · | · |
| 1915 | 10,000 | · | · |
That consistency is the whole point. Premier is a put-grow fishery: the ~55,000 diploid Blackwater yearlings dropped each spring are next season's fish, growing on the lake's rich chironomid and leech forage to a 30–35 cm average, with the odd fish pushing 50 cm. The rainbow you catch this summer are last year's cohort; the fresh yearlings are why it will still be good next year.
How it fishes
Work the productive water, not the deep middle. In spring and early summer, hang a chironomid under an indicator over the shoals and drop-offs. As the shallows warm through July and August, the fish slide to the eastern-shore cliff drop-off — troll leeches, Woolly Buggers and bead-head nymphs on a full-sink line along that edge, and stay for the evening rise, when matching the hatch with an Adams, Grizzly King or caddis takes fish off the top.
Why the stocking is Blackwater
Getting there & the rules
The north end has a 61-site provincial-park campground, a boat launch and a day-use area — the natural base for a weekend. Mind the seasonal closure: no fishing south of the boundary signs from May 15 to June 20, no towing, and a 15 km/h limit on the south half. Tributaries are closed to fishing. Rockbluff Lake sits in the same park if you want a smaller, quieter option, with Canuck, Yankee and Cats Eye lakes nearby.
Sources & further reading: BC Freshwater Fishing Regulations, Region 4 (2025-2027); Go Fish BC / Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC articles and stocking reports; Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases (stocking history). Confirm current rules before fishing.
