Dolly Varden
Dolly Varden in BC lakes
The coastal char, and the other half of the province's longest running identification argument. Dolly Varden and bull trout were treated as one species until the late 1970s, and most of what is written about either still reads that way.
Telling it apart
Pale spots on a dark body and no black on the dorsal fin, the same as a bull trout, because they are close relatives. Against a bull trout: a Dolly Varden has a smaller, more rounded head and a more slender body, and in BC the single most useful clue is not on the fish at all, it is the map. On the low coast and the islands you are almost certainly looking at a Dolly Varden. In a big cold interior lake you are almost certainly looking at a bull trout.
Where it is
Coastal. Vancouver Island, the mainland coast and the north coast systems, in lakes that are often connected to the sea, which is the other difference: a coastal Dolly Varden population may be sea run, moving between fresh and salt water through the year.
| Region | Lakes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Island | 62 | 29% |
| Lower Mainland | 29 | 13% |
| Skeena | 27 | 12% |
| Cariboo | 22 | 10% |
| Omineca | 22 | 10% |
| Thompson-Nicola | 21 | 10% |
| Kootenays | 18 | 8% |
| Peace | 11 | 5% |
| Okanagan | 5 | 2% |
How to fish for it
Smaller than a bull trout on average and less exclusively piscivorous, so a smaller presentation works. They hold deep and near structure, they will take a fly, and in a lake with a salmon system attached they follow the fry out in spring, which is the one window where a small bright pattern outfishes everything else.
| Lake | Biggest on record | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Stave Lake | 11 lb | Dolly Varden to 11 lb per Backroad Mapbooks; derby fish near 8 lb, cutthroat 4 lb. |
| Chilliwack Lake | 8 lb | Lower Mainland |
| Kuthai Lake | 6.6 lb | Skeena |
| Vernon Lake | 6.6 lb | The owner's sheet reports: Rainbow trout 6.6 lb, Dolly Varden 6.6 lb |
| Buttle Lake | 6 lb | Vancouver Island |
| Chehalis Lake | 6 lb | Lower Mainland |
| Comox Lake | 6 lb | Vancouver Island |
| Cowichan Lake | 6 lb | Vancouver Island |
| Cowichan Lake (Including Bear Lake) | 6 lb | Vancouver Island |
| Cultus Lake | 6 lb | Lower Mainland |
| Lakelse Lake | 6 lb | Skeena |
| Ross (Six Mile) Lake | 5 lb | Skeena |
Of the lakes on this page, 6 are catch and release water. That is a signal rather than a rule: what you may keep is in the Province's Synopsis, and the licence page explains where to read it.
Lakes to start with
Each of these has a page with its depth, its fish, the rule text we hold for it and a seven day forecast, and each is here because of the record beside it rather than because of its reputation.
- Buttle Lake 6 lb on record, Vancouver Island
- Comox Lake 6 lb on record, Vancouver Island
- Cowichan Lake 6 lb on record, Vancouver Island
- Cultus Lake 6 lb on record, Lower Mainland
What these numbers are, and are not
The lake counts on this page come from the Province's fish observation records, plus angling reports where we hold them. An observation record says a fish was seen in that water on some date, and those dates run from this year back to the middle of the last century. A lake can appear here and no longer hold the fish, and a lake can hold it and never have been surveyed. Every lake page prints the year behind its own list, which is the honest version of this page's count.
The weights are reported figures, from guidebooks, from the Province and from anglers, gathered as each lake was researched. They are not official records and we do not claim they are.
Open the map: 1,843 BC lakes, each with a seven day forecast
Where to go next
- Every species in the atlas, with the lake count behind each.
- The trout and char of BC lakes, which tells all of them apart in one read.
- The licence and the rules, before you keep anything.