This paper investigates flows around a free surface piercing cylinder with Froude number F<0.5 and Reynolds number around Re = 50,000. The aim of this work is to gain a better understanding of the flow behaviour in environmental systems such as fishways. The advances are based upon experimental and numerical results. Several flow discharges and slopes are tested to obtain both subcritical and supercritical flows. The drag force exerted on the cylinder is measured with the help of a torque gauge while the velocity field is obtained using particle velocimetry. For the numerical part, two URANS turbulence models are tested, the k-w SST and the RNG k-e models using the OpenFOAM software suite for subcritical cases, and then compared with the corresponding experimental results. With fishways applications in mind, the changes in drag coefficient Cd versus Froude number and water depth are studied and experimental correlations proposed. We conclude that the most suitable URANS turbulence model for reproducing this kind of flow is the k-w SST model.