Crawford Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Columbia River. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow, cutthroat, dolly varden, kokanee.
The water
It flows into Columbia River within the Upper Arrow Lake watershed (Upper Arrow Lake → Columbia River). It runs stream order 4 (mid-range in the network; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 12 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (13 records).
Stocking
For an angler judging whether the fishing is worth the drive, the stocking record is the fishing report. Crawford Creek is a kokanee program, a mix of forage stocking and a put-and-take sport fishery: 36 recorded releases totalling 2,182,738 fish (Kokanee, Rainbow Trout), last stocked 2020-05-20.
Crawford Creek — 2,182,738 fish stocked, 1926–2020
Rainbow Trout, Kokanee. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout | Kokanee |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | · | 80,000 |
| 2019 | · | 30,000 |
| 2018 | · | 100,000 |
| 2017 | · | 229,599 |
| 2016 | · | 30,030 |
| 2015 | · | 92,541 |
| 2008 | · | 300,000 |
| 2007 | · | 300,000 |
| 2005 | · | 200,000 |
| 1952 | · | 30,000 |
| 1951 | · | 30,000 |
| 1950 | 15,000 | 60,000 |
| 1949 | 15,000 | 80,000 |
| 1948 | · | 50,000 |
| 1947 | 20,000 | 50,000 |
| 1946 | 14,568 | 50,000 |
| 1944 | 10,000 | · |
| 1943 | 33,000 | · |
| 1942 | 15,000 | · |
| 1941 | 16,000 | · |
| 1940 | 25,000 | · |
| 1939 | 45,000 | · |
| 1938 | 20,000 | · |
| 1937 | 20,000 | · |
| 1936 | 12,000 | · |
| 1931 | · | 120,000 |
| 1929 | 20,000 | · |
| 1928 | 20,000 | · |
| 1927 | 20,000 | · |
| 1926 | 30,000 | · |
Stocking appears to have wound down after 2020. 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 a small stream, a tributary of Columbia River, Crawford Creek fishes the way creeks of its size do: short drifts with a buoyant attractor dry over a light dropper, working the pocket water and the heads of pools. The stocking record below is the truest read on what you will catch.
Conditions
- Navigability: mixed, confirm access and flow before choosing drift vs wade (median channel width ~11.3 m, moderate width; median gradient ~2.58%, moderate; peak mean-annual discharge ~3.83 m³/s, low flow).
Access & the rules
Access for Crawford Creek, 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.
