Upper Arrow Lake

Region

Kootenays

Management unit

MU 4-31

Species

Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout, Kokanee, Burbot, Mountain Whitefish, Lake Whitefish, White Sturgeon, Yellow Perch, Brook Trout, Pygmy Whitefish, Whitefish (General), Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout (last recorded 1983), Walleye (last recorded 1982), Dolly Varden (last recorded 1981), Chum Salmon (last recorded 1949), Northern Pikeminnow, Peamouth Chub, Largescale Sucker, Sucker (General), Longnose Sucker, Prickly Sculpin, Redside Shiner, Sculpin (General), Slimy Sculpin, Minnow (General), Carp, Lamprey (General), Dace (General), Leopard Dace, Torrent Sculpin (last recorded 1982), Bridgelip Sucker (last recorded 1982), Lake Chub (last recorded 1982), Longnose Dace (last recorded 1982), Sturgeon (General) (last recorded 1982), Chiselmouth (formerly Chiselmouth Chub) (last recorded 1949), Chub (General) (last recorded 1949), Squanga (last recorded 1949)The newest of these fish records is from 2018.Species from the province's fish observation records.

Lake size

Large Water (> 500 ha)

Ice fishing

Open to ice fishing, confirmed

Coordinates

50.4167, -117.9167

A year is when the Province last recorded the fish here, not a statement that it is caught today.

High-speed trolling (2.8-3.5 mph) with planer boards running bucktail tandem flies (patterns #215, #228, grey ghost, purple haze), Lyman plugs (#4, #5, #16), and Apex 5.0 lures. In cooler months, fish stay right on the surface feeding on kokanee.

Best times of year at Upper Arrow Lake

• Fall (Oct-Dec)
• Winter (Jan-March)
• Spring (April-June)

We have no lake specific regulations on file for Upper Arrow Lake yet.

Paved highway access via Hwy 23 from Revelstoke to Nakusp and the Galena Bay / Shelter Bay ferry.

Coordinates: 50.4167, -117.9167

Camping and rec sites at Upper Arrow Lake

• McDonald Creek Provincial Park
  73 vehicle campsites on eastern shore of Upper Arrow Lake, concrete boat ramp, dock, sandy swimming beach & sani-station
  Facilities: Concrete Boat Launch, Campground, Sandy Beach, Flush Toilets, Showers, Sani-Station
  Access: Paved Hwy 23 Nakusp (2WD)

  The site on Recreation Sites and Trails BC

289 mdeepest

Upper Arrow Lake runs to 289 m (948 ft) at its deepest.

The Province sounded Upper Arrow Lake and published the depth chart surveyed in 1970. It runs to 2 sheets.

• Depth chart 1 OF 2 (PDF)
• Depth chart 2 OF 2 (PDF)

Modelled from air temperature, not an ice report. It says nothing about whether ice will hold you.

The model treats Upper Arrow Lake as too large and deep to freeze over, so it gives no freeze-up or ice-off dates. On air temperature alone it would have frozen in 65 of 65 winters since 1960.

Upper Arrow Lake is open to ice fishing under the regulations on file.

Whether a lake is open to ice fishing says nothing about whether its ice will hold you. Ice conditions vary year to year and across a single lake. Check locally before going out, every time.

Averaged over a year, the air above Upper Arrow Lake is 1.1 C warmer than it was in the 1960s. That is 66 years of daily readings, not a forecast.

• +1.1 Csince the 1960s
• 6.8 Caverage year now
• 5.7 Caverage year then
• -16 daysbelow freezing, change

Open Upper Arrow Lake in the app

• Catherine Lake 4 km away
• Upper Arrow Lake (Drawdown Area) 10 km away
• Cameron Lake 13 km away
• Little Mosquito Lake 14 km away
• Mosquito Lake 15 km away

All 162 lakes in the Kootenays, with today's conditions on each.

• How the score works
• Depth, and where the trout are
• A year on a trout lake
• Fishing chironomids
• Reading a depth chart
• Trout and char of BC lakes
• Camping at rec site lakes
• Winterkill explained
• When the ice goes off