French Creek
Fishing and stocking
Rainbow trout water; 2 stockings on the 2026 record, spread April to May. One of 8 stocked waters on the Custer County record.
Custer County · South Dakota · see it on the national map
The year here
stocked last 7 days announced ahead · tap a tick for details
What swims here
Rainbow trout
Stocking record 2026
Agency feed checked yesterday.
| Date | Species | Size | Fish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 13 | Rainbow trout | adult | 800 | completed |
| May 27 | Rainbow trout | adult | 400 | completed |
When to fish French Creek
| Major periods (~2 h) | Minor periods (~1 h) | |
|---|---|---|
| Today | 9:32-11:32 am and 9:55-11:55 pm | 3:50-4:50 am and 4:02-5:02 pm |
| Tomorrow | 10:18 am-12:18 pm and 10:42 pm-12:42 am | 5:01-6:01 am and 4:23-5:23 pm |
Moon: waxing gibbous, 93% lit. These are solunar periods, the traditional feeding-time theory: majors around the moon's transit overhead and underfoot, minors around moonrise and moonset. Theory, not a measurement. Times are Mountain Time (MDT).
What the record actually says
- Last stocked May 27
Computed this evening, Oct 23 · South Dakota fishing forecast
Gear for this water
It has been a while since the trucks came. The holdovers have spread out and wised up; downsize and fish natural.
For the trout (rainbow trout stocked 2 times here in 2026, moving water)
| Drifted bait | single salmon egg or half a crawler under light split shot, rolled along the bottom |
| Small jerkbaits | floating minnows in the 2 to 3 inch class for the deeper bends |
| Waders or wet-wading boots | stocked stream fish stack in the obvious pools; getting to the next one is the edge |
Suggestions follow from what the state actually stocks here and what kind of water it is, nothing else. No sponsored placements.
Nearby stocked waters
The closest waters with stocking pages of their own, straight-line miles from this one.
| Water | Distance | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Grace Coolidge Creek | 19 mi | Sep 22 |
| Center | 27 mi | Sep 22 |
| Lakota | 28 mi | Sep 25 |
| Legion | 28 mi | Sep 24 |
| Stockade | 31 mi | Sep 24 |
Follow Custer County stocking: RSS / Calendar (iCal) / Print the schedule