Above Lake Koocanusa

Reach 1 of 1

Kootenay River

Access places

This is the Kootenay most anglers mean when they say the Kootenay: a big, cold, glacier-fed river in the Rocky Mountain Trench, fished for its bull trout. It runs from the national park south past Canal Flats and Fort Steele, and ends where it slows into Lake Koocanusa near Wardner. Below that the river leaves for Montana, and the rest of it is another trip.

The regulations split this reach in two at the mouth of the White River, a tributary that comes in above Canal Flats, and the split decides when you can go. Upstream of the White is classified water and closed in spring. From the White down to the reservoir the river’s own rule sets the spring closure aside.

Fish in this water

Each fish is rated by its strongest evidence. A rating says how sure we are a fish is here, not how many there are, whether it is worth fishing for or whether you may keep it.

Likely

Older records here, recent stocking, a local guide or fly shop, a guide listing, or recent records on connected water nearby.

Bull Trout

Named for this river by a fishing guide, club or website

Kokanee

Named for this river by a fishing guide, club or website

Rainbow Trout

Named for this river by a fishing guide, club or website

Westslope Cutthroat Trout

Named for this river by a fishing guide, club or website

White Sturgeon

Named for this river by a fishing guide, club or website

No live gauge

No gauge readings are available for this water.

Season

Access & parking

Regulations

Driving directions

The lower half: White River to Koocanusa

Start here. This is floating water, with bridge launches off Highway 93/95 and long flats, braids and seams between them. The run from Bummers Flats, south of Wasa, down to Fort Steele makes an easy half day. Fort Steele to Wardner is a long day; keep to the main channel, because wood jams the small side channels.

Because this stretch is exempt from the Region 4 stream closure of 1 April to 14 June, it is the one part of the upper river you can fish in spring, before the snowmelt turns it grey. From 1 April to 31 October the daily quota here is one trout or char, with no trout under 30 cm and no bull trout under 75 cm.

The upper half: above the White River

Above the White the river runs through quieter country beside the Kootenay River Forest Service Road. It is Class II classified water when open, so you need a Classified Waters Licence as well as your basic licence, and the same goes for its tributaries. It is closed from 1 April to 14 June under the Region 4 stream closure. From 15 June to 31 October the daily quota is one trout or char, with no trout under 30 cm and no bull trout under 75 cm.

Part of the river runs through Kootenay National Park. A provincial licence isn’t valid there; where the park is open to fishing you need a National Park Fishing Permit from Parks Canada, and the park’s rules apply instead of these.

When to go and what to throw

On the whole reach bait is banned all year, trout and char are catch and release from 1 November to 31 March, and burbot are always released. Like every Region 4 stream it takes a single barbless hook.

March is bull trout month on the lower half, catch and release, before the melt. Then wait for the river to clear, usually into July. September and October are the best of the year: low water, kokanee running up out of the reservoir and bull trout following them into the tributary mouths.

For bull trout, fish a 7 or 8 weight with a sink tip and one big streamer in a whitefish colour, swung deep and slow through the seam at the head of each pool. If they follow and turn, go smaller and darker. For the westslope cutthroat along the edges, change to a 5 weight and one dry at a time: a caddis in the evening, a foam hopper along the grass banks in August.

The whole river’s page covers the Creston flats and the West Arm below. Check in-season changes in the BC regulations before every trip.

Access points

Old Ferry Landing Boat Ramp

Access point