Halfway River is a river flowing into Columbia River. Recorded fish: Bull Trout, Kokanee, Rainbow Trout.
The water
It flows into Columbia River within the Upper Arrow Lake watershed (Upper Arrow Lake → Columbia River). It runs stream order 5 (well down the network, toward river scale; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 42 km. Bull Trout, Kokanee, Rainbow Trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (35 records). The fish-passage model expects Westslope (Yellowstone) Cutthroat Trout here too, since the reach is reachable with no barrier between, though there is no direct record yet.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Halfway River is a put-and-take angling fishery, stocked with catchable game fish: 13 recorded releases totalling 83,547 fish (Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout), last stocked 2000-07-21.
Halfway River — 83,547 fish stocked, 1990–2000
Rainbow Trout, Bull Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Bull Trout |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | · | 6,220 |
| 1999 | · | 398 |
| 1995 | 7,008 | · |
| 1994 | 5,644 | 2,067 |
| 1993 | 5,309 | 10,000 |
| 1992 | 6,184 | · |
| 1991 | · | 24,997 |
| 1990 | · | 15,720 |
Stocking appears to have wound down after 2000. Confirm whether it is still topped up or now fishes as a residual, wild population. The chart below shows the full release history.
The fishing
As moving water, a tributary of Columbia River, Halfway River fishes the way rivers of its size do: read the runs and seams, fish a dry-dropper through the warm months, and swing streamers or nymph the deeper slots as flows drop. The stocking record below is the truest read on what you will catch.
Conditions
- Navigability: not a casual float: whitewater or canyon evidence on this water; treat as wade unless a guide says otherwise (median channel width ~18.9 m, wide; median gradient ~2.47%, moderate; peak mean-annual discharge ~11.691 m³/s, moderate flow; canyon-confined sections with ~127 m walls (DEM)).
Access & the rules
Access for Halfway River, meaning the roads in, put-ins and any walk-in or seasonal limits, is worth confirming locally before you commit a day. The drainage map shows how the water sits in its valley.
