Stella Lake on Vancouver Island has a good number of rainbow trout, stocked cutthroat trout, and dolly varden. These fish average around 40 to 45 cm but routinely reach 1.5 kg. The lake benefits from having one of the most aggressive cutthroat trout stocking programs on the Island. This service is supplied by the Fresh-Water Fisheries Society Of BC, 10,000 Cutthroats are added every year. They may not get huge but the fishing is pretty consistent. When I was a young man, friends and I would come here to fish, the fish was much bigger then, it was not unheard of to see fish in the 3 to 4 kg size pulled from this lake. Fishing is best in the spring and fall. Trolling works all day, fly-fishing works well in the morning and evening, and the fishing from an hour before dark picks up from the shore as the trout come in to feed on insects.
Stella Lake has 3 very nice recreation sites, the Stella Bay Rec Site has room for up to 2 groups of campers, the Stella North Rec Site is for one group only, but the Stella Beach Rec Site is quite big with room for 14 groups of campers and this one has an awesome beach that’s safe for the kids.
To reach Stella Lake, just head north on Hwy 19. Just past Roberts Lake, take a right-hand turn on to the elk bay road and follow for about 11 km, then you’ll come to the turnoff to the Stella Lake Road, turn left, follow it for another 3.2 km, and you’ll reach the Stella Beach Recreation Site.
There are a number of other wilderness campsites scattered around the lake that have some nice camping spots, good fishing, and great areas to canoe in. Bring your camera, you could see deer, elk, bears, squirrels, and numerous kinds of birds.
great site info is very helpful my daughters are into hiking going to recommend they look at the site