Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4, Kootenay), including bait, boat-motor and ice-fishing rules for this lake, before you fish it.

For a lake with no local fishing report on file, the stocking record is the fishing report. Cartwright is topped up as a put-grow rainbow fishery: fresh yearlings go in most years, grow on the lake's natural forage, and are caught the following season or two as fish in the 25-35 cm class typical of Blackwater put-grow programs elsewhere in the region. The most recent release, in 2026, put in 6,000 yearling rainbow of the Blackwater r strain, the same broodstock line used across most of the East Kootenay's stocked lakes.

With that long a stocking history and no confirmed local report yet on file, treat Cartwright as a standard small-lake stillwater until it is fished and written up: work a chironomid under an indicator over the shoals early in the season, and switch to leech and attractor retrieves along any drop-off as the water warms. The 2026 yearling class means this year's fish are small; the better-grown fish from the prior year or two of releases are the ones worth targeting.

No launch, road access or facility details have been confirmed for Cartwright Lake yet. Check the current BC freshwater fishing regulations for Region 4 (Kootenay), including any bait, boat-motor or ice-fishing restrictions specific to this lake, before making the drive.