Ogelston Creek is a small tributary of Frances Creek in the Forster Creek system, running through Purcell Range backcountry west of Radium Hot Springs. No fish survey has logged a direct record on Ogelston itself; brook trout, Bull Trout, cutthroat, rainbow trout and westslope cutthroat trout are inferred from the wider Frances system rather than confirmed on this specific creek.
The water
Ogelston sits at 50.70009, -116.32456, running stream order 4 (mid-range on a scale from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6 or more for a full river) for roughly 9 km before joining Frances Creek, which drains into Forster Creek and then the Columbia River. A regional fish habitat survey recommended resampling reach 3 of Ogelston because dry, low-flow conditions at the time limited confidence in the result, even though it noted suitable spawning and rearing habitat nearby, a reminder that an empty record here reflects thin, low-flow survey coverage as much as an empty creek. Fish moving up from the Columbia are blocked well downstream by a cascade and a roughly 3 m falls in lower Forster Creek, so anything living this high in the system would be a resident or lake-connected population rather than a mainstem migrant.
The fishing
With no direct fish records, Ogelston reads as a scouting and habitat-context water rather than a confirmed destination. If cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow or brook trout are present, expect them holding in whatever perennial pools and cooler pockets survive the summer low-flow period rather than spread continuously through the creek.
The same cold mountain-creek hatches cover this corner of the Forster and Frances system: Stoneflies, Caddisflies (Sedges), Mayflies and summer Terrestrials (Hoppers, Ants, Beetles). Fish the standard alpine attractor box if you find holding water: an Adams, Elk Hair Caddis or Stimulator on top, backed by a Hare's Ear or Pheasant Tail beneath.
A scouting water, not a sure thing
Conditions
- Navigability: narrow, steep wade water (median width ~3.2 m, narrow; median gradient ~10.15%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.079 m³/s, very low flow), a smaller and steeper profile than the gentler water on neighbouring Hurst Creek.
- Stocking: no stocking record. Any fish present here would be wild.
Access and the rules
Backcountry access runs from the Radium Hot Springs or Brisco crossings on Highway 95, via Forster Main, Westside Main and Redrock Road, with the Frances Creek Forest Service Road running into the same country as Castor and Hurst creeks. Road condition through this network is variable, and no named trailhead or parking area is confirmed for Ogelston Creek itself. Treat this as a backroad scouting trip, not a roadside fishery.
