Rainbow trout
Good
Under the ice where it is safe: small jigs and bait near the bottom in shallow bays. On open rivers, nymphs slow and deep.
Kootenay Lake Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Kootenay Lake: Gerrard rainbow trout and bull trout under recovery rules, kokanee closed on the main lake, and a live level gauge at Queens Bay.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
531.39 m
Air / High
6 °C / 11 °C
Wind
NNE 3 km/h
Sources: Water Survey of Canada station 08NH064, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Kootenay Lake is in its winter rhythm: slow, deep and around the brightest hours. The gauge reads 531.39 m, up 0.12 over the week. Today brings cloud cover, wind NNE around 3 km/h, rising pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 11 °C. Water sits around 6 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:35 PM-1:35 AM and 11:53 AM-1:53 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 11:35 PM-1:35 AM, 11:53 AM-1:53 PM, 8:22 AM-9:22 AM. Similar at 11 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
British Columbia requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$11.43. British Columbia fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with BC Freshwater Fishing before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Kootenay Lake today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:50), sunset (17:12), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:35 PM-1:35 AM and 11:53 AM-1:53 PM; minor 8:22 AM-9:22 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Water Survey of Canada station 08NH064 (KOOTENAY LAKE AT QUEENS BAY).
Lake level, last 30 days
Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 08NH064. Latest reading 2026-11-09 02:15.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp6 °C
High / Low11 °C / 4 °C
WindNNE 3 km/h, gusts 4 km/h
Pressure101.85 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 59%
Sunrise / Sunset07:50 / 17:12
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~6 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Kootenay Lake
The best day on Kootenay Lake this week looks like Wednesday Nov 11, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Wednesday, Nov 11 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Nov 9 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:35 PM-1:35 AM and 11:53 AM-1:53 PM
- Minor period
- 8:22 AM-9:22 AM
- Sun
- 07:50 to 17:12
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 11 km/h
- Rain chance
- 59%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Kootenay Lake: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Lakes: ice-off to June and September to freeze-up; rivers through the open season
Canada’s most stocked sport fish, in thousands of BC, Alberta and prairie lakes and in the famous rivers, the Bow first among them. Wild rainbows in the rivers; stocked fish in most small lakes. Under the ice where it is safe: small jigs and bait near the bottom in shallow bays. On open rivers, nymphs slow and deep.
Bull trout
Summer and fall
A native char of the cold mountain rivers of BC and Alberta, a predator of other fish. Protected in Alberta, where every bull trout must be released; limits vary by water in BC. Slow and deep, if the water is open to fishing.
When to come: the Kootenay Lake calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Bull trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 6 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Kootenay Lake today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at good. High of 13 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at good. High of 13 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 9 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
BC freshwater fishing licence, from C$11.43 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by BC Freshwater Fishing and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the British Columbia licence page before you keep anything. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on British Columbia fishing seasons.
Access
A BC freshwater licence covers the lake.
About this water
Kootenay Lake is a lake in British Columbia, Canada, covered from the British Columbia reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Kootenay Lake: the full guide
Kootenay Lake
Kootenay Lake is the long, deep lake between the Selkirk and Purcell mountains of south-eastern British Columbia, with the West Arm running from Balfour to Nelson and on to the Corra Linn Dam. The province names the Gerrard rainbow trout among the noted fish of the Kootenay Region; the Gerrards spawn in the upper Lardeau River at the north end, where ministry staff have counted them through April and May. The Water Survey of Canada gauge at Queens Bay, on the lake near Balfour, supplies the level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
The lake is fished under recovery rules after its kokanee collapsed. On the main body, kokanee may not be kept at all, while rainbow trout and bull trout can be; keeping a rainbow over 50 cm from the main body needs the Kootenay Lake rainbow trout conservation surcharge and counts toward an annual limit. The West Arm has its own rules, including rainbow catch and release from 1 January to 31 May in the upper arm and a weekend-only kokanee harvest in the lower arm. Burbot are catch and release in every part of the lake, and white sturgeon are closed to fishing.
Where to fish it
The main lake is trolled for the big rainbows and bull trout, often with plugs and bucktail flies near the surface in the cool months, and under the current synopsis a person in a boat on the main body may angle with any number of rods. The main body ends at a line between boundary signs near Balfour Point and Procter Lighthouse, and the Upper West Arm runs from there to McDonalds Landing (Six Mile); the limits change at those lines, so know which side you are on. The lake is big, and wind can build quickly.
Planning a visit
Nelson, Kaslo and Balfour are the usual bases. The province’s free inland ferry crosses the main lake between Balfour and Kootenay Bay on Highway 3A in about 35 minutes. Toward Creston, at the south end, a permit is needed to fish any water in the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, including Duck Lake and the Kootenay River and canal.
The water through the year
The lake level rises with the spring runoff and is held back by the dams downstream; the gauge shows the rise and fall. Most Region 4 streams, including the lake’s tributaries, are closed from 1 April to 14 June, and trout and char caught in streams must be released from 1 November to 31 March, so the lake carries most of the fishing through winter and spring. Kokanee spawn in the tributaries in late summer, and the Meadow Creek Spawning Channel at the north end is part of the province’s kokanee work.
Reading this report here
The gauge shows the lake level, and the chart covers the last 30 days. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, helps place the fish in the water column, and the weather forecast sets the rest of the score.
Licence, access and rules
A BC freshwater licence covers the lake. Add the Kootenay Lake rainbow trout conservation surcharge only if you intend to keep a rainbow over 50 cm from the main body, and record it on your licence straight away. The province warns that Kootenay Lake recovery may bring in-season changes, which it posts on its fishing regulations page under Region 4.
Common questions
What is a Gerrard rainbow trout?
The large, fish-eating rainbow trout of Kootenay Lake, which spawns in the Lardeau River at the north end; the province lists it among the Kootenay Region’s noted fish.
Do I need a special licence for Kootenay Lake?
Only to keep a rainbow over 50 cm from the main body, which needs the Kootenay Lake rainbow trout conservation surcharge on top of the basic licence. Releasing them all needs no surcharge.
Can I keep kokanee from Kootenay Lake?
Not from the main body, where the kokanee quota is zero; the West Arm has limited kokanee openings set out in the synopsis.
Is fishing good at Kootenay Lake right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Water level and flow readings
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 08NH064 — KOOTENAY LAKE AT QUEENS BAY
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/fish/
- www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/sports-recreation-arts-and-culture/outdoor-r
- www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/passenger-travel/water-trave
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.