Bonanza Creek

River
1.29 km
Mapped channels
Bonanza Creek is a tributary creek flowing into big sheep creek. Recorded fish: Kokanee, Rainbow Trout.
No live gauge
No gauge readings are available for this water.
Season
Driving directions

At a glance

Fact
Details
Type
Tributary Creek
Watershed
Lower Arrow Lake
Size
stream order 2, ~1 km
Fish
Kokanee and Rainbow Trout
Water
Driftable With Caution

Species

•
Kokanee
•
Rainbow Trout

Region 4 Regulations — guide reviewed 2026-07-31

Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4 – Kootenay) before you fish; this water is part of the Big Sheep Creek system.

Measurements

Measurement
Reported value
Median channel width
9.8 m
Median channel gradient
0.67 %
Mean annual discharge estimate
2.766 m³/s

The water

It flows into big sheep creek within the Lower Arrow Lake watershed (Lower Arrow Lake → Columbia River). It runs stream order 2 (high in the network, near the headwaters; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 1 km. kokanee, rainbow trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (25 records).

The fishing

As a small stream, a tributary of Big Sheep Creek, Bonanza 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. Match the fly box to the season and confirm against a current local report.
Fact
Details
Tributary Creek
Lower Arrow Lake watershed
Stream order 2
~1 km
Kokanee and Rainbow Trout
25 records
Driftable With Caution

Conditions

•
Navigability: driftable with caution: wide, low-gradient sections suit a float/raft, but rated rapids or canyon-confined reaches interrupt them; check the drift map (median channel width ~9.8 m, moderate width; median gradient ~0.67%, very gentle; peak mean-annual discharge ~2.766 m³/s, low flow; canyon-confined sections with ~90 m walls (DEM)).

Access & the rules

Access for Bonanza 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.

Before you fish

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

Related

Big Sheep Creek
Page reviewed 2026-07-31
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