Rockbluff Lake, still marked Quartz Lake on some older maps, is a quiet 18.6-hectare stillwater tucked into Premier Lake Provincial Park, about 72 km north of Cranbrook off Highway 93/95. It sits a short drive past the park's much larger namesake lake, and it fishes like the small, deep water it is: best right after ice-off, and stocked every spring with both rainbow trout and Kokanee.
The water
Rockbluff shares Premier Lake Provincial Park with Premier Lake itself, along with Canuck and Yankee lakes nearby. At 18.6 hectares it is small on the map but deceptively deep: a 1961 provincial lake survey found a maximum depth of 25.6 m and a mean of 9.1 m, sitting at 945 m elevation. That is deep water for its footprint, and it shapes how the lake fishes: expect a defined shoal-and-drop-off structure rather than a shallow bowl, with the deep basin holding fish through the warmer months while the shoals do the work in spring.
The fishing
Rockbluff fishes best in the weeks right after ice-off, late May through June, when rainbow cruise the shoals. The productive water concentrates around the islands at the lake's southern end and a shallow rise anglers call "the hump." Chironomid under an indicator is the standard approach: size 12-16 Liquid Lace Brassie or Bloodworm (Cranberry Larvae) patterns suspended at 4-7 m, though an early mayfly hatch sometimes pulls fish off the chironomids entirely. Caddis hatches run late June through August, when Carey Special and Doc Spratley nymph imitations produce, switching to dry patterns as the flying-insect hatch develops. Through summer, work dragonfly and damselfly nymph patterns stripped hard toward shore from a moored boat or float tube for aggressive strikes. Anglers running spin gear do well on the same water with Kwikfish, lake trolls and Krocodile spoons.
A kokanee lake as much as a rainbow lake
Access and the rules
Reach Rockbluff off Highway 93/95 at Skookumchuck, 72 km north of Cranbrook: 12 km into Premier Lake Provincial Park, then a short drive past Premier Lake itself to a small parking area and outhouse on the lake's southwest shore. There is no boat launch at Rockbluff, though a float tube or portaged small boat covers the deep water well. The 61-site campground and day-use area at Premier Lake, at the park's north end, is the closest base for an overnight. A trail network links Canuck, Yankee and Turtle lakes nearby for one- to four-hour day hikes, with Cats Eye Lake another option in the same park.
Before you fish
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the release record backs up the reputation: 94 recorded stockings totalling roughly 323,500 fish since 1931. What changed in 2021 is the mix: Pennask-strain rainbow trout yearlings, about 2,000 a year via the Beaver hatchery, now share the lake with an annual Kokanee fry release of similar size, drawn from Norbury Creek and Lussier River broodstock. Brook trout appear only in the historical record, last stocked in 1961. The full year-by-year release history is below.
Rockbluff Lake — 317,530 fish stocked, 1931–2026
Rainbow Trout, Kokanee, Brook Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Kokanee | Brook Trout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,000 | 2,000 | · |
| 2025 | 2,000 | 2,000 | · |
| 2024 | 2,000 | 2,000 | · |
| 2023 | 2,000 | 1,900 | · |
| 2022 | 2,000 | 1,900 | · |
| 2021 | 2,000 | 1,900 | · |
| 2020 | 2,000 | 1,900 | · |
| 2019 | 2,000 | 1,500 | · |
| 2018 | 2,000 | 1,900 | · |
| 2017 | 2,000 | 1,900 | · |
| 2016 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2015 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2014 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2013 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2012 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2011 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2010 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2009 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2008 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 2007 | 1,000 | · | · |
| 2006 | 1,000 | · | · |
| 2005 | 1,000 | · | · |
| 2004 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 2003 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 2002 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 2001 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 2000 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1999 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1998 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1997 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1996 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1995 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1994 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1993 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1992 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1991 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1990 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1989 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1988 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1987 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1986 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1985 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 1984 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1983 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 1982 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 1980 | 4,000 | · | · |
| 1979 | 4,000 | · | · |
| 1978 | 4,000 | · | · |
| 1977 | 4,000 | · | · |
| 1976 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1975 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1974 | 4,000 | · | · |
| 1973 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1972 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1971 | 6,000 | · | · |
| 1970 | 6,000 | · | · |
| 1969 | 10,000 | · | · |
| 1968 | 20,000 | · | · |
| 1961 | 12,800 | · | 4,830 |
| 1960 | 2,000 | · | 6,400 |
| 1959 | 1,000 | · | · |
| 1958 | 2,600 | · | · |
| 1957 | 3,600 | · | · |
| 1955 | 4,500 | · | · |
| 1954 | 2,400 | · | · |
| 1953 | 3,000 | · | · |
| 1952 | 8,000 | · | · |
| 1951 | 4,000 | · | · |
| 1950 | 2,000 | · | · |
| 1949 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1948 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1947 | 7,000 | · | · |
| 1946 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1941 | 2,500 | · | · |
| 1940 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1933 | 10,000 | · | · |
| 1932 | 5,000 | · | · |
| 1931 | 10,000 | · | · |
Conditions
- Depth: max 25.6 m, mean 9.1 m, Secchi 8.1 m (BC lake survey, 1961-08-17). Deep for an 18.6 ha lake, with a real shoal-and-drop-off structure rather than a shallow bowl, so the deep basin holds fish once the shoals warm.
- Stocking: a kokanee-and-rainbow program, roughly 2,000 Pennask rainbow yearlings and 2,000 kokanee fry stocked together each spring since 2021; 94 releases and about 323,500 fish total since 1931.
