French Slough is a tributary creek flowing into Kootenay River. Recorded fish: Westslope cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow, cutthroat, dolly varden, kokanee.
The water
It flows into Kootenay River within the Kootenay Lake watershed (Kootenay Lake → Kootenay 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 8 km. Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, Rainbow Trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, Kokanee, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (12 records). Named tributaries in the index: Urmston Creek, Simmons Creek.
The fishing
As a small stream, a tributary of Kootenay River, French Slough 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. Match the fly box to the season and confirm against a current local report.
Conditions
- Navigability: driftable: wide, low-gradient sections suit a float/raft (median channel width ~42.3 m, broad; median gradient ~0%, very gentle; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.526 m³/s, very low flow).
Access & the rules
Access for French Slough, 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.
