Rivermouth action has been slow to start but might be picking up as near shore waters cooled down a touch after couple days of med E winds. After the extremely high water we have had the last two weeks it is finally receded enough to produce safer wading conditions. Downstream spots on the Oak for the past weekend may have been tougher on what was dropping and clearing flows, altho we did not hear from many guys. We did not take one fish on flasher/fly. Maybe those fish pushed further upriver as so far theres not been a lot of holding or spawning action except for the piling up at the dam. Guys report good to strong numbers of Kings at the dam and overflow. They fished a little west of port between the 27-29 lines of latitude. Flows can fluctuate by several feet in a short period of time. We continue to lobby for water access on the far side or west side of the Waterport dam hydro pool and the rest of the Oak. So it sounds a little like an improvement from a struggle for a hook up to getting a few. Mike Grager from Get Hooked Sportfishing: Today we had a young army veteran out for his first time fishing salmon on Lake Ontario!! High winds and advisory is likely for something like Fri/Sat/Sun. With the final weekend of the Lake Ontario Counties Fall Derby approaching, it is important to be in the contest if you are on the water. So we are still in this mostly mild winter pattern. Niagara River Laker action. We took a look at flows and found the same medium-ish or slightly high that its been and some stain, but maybe not as dirty as reported a few days ago. To the west at Johnson Creek, flows are medium and mostly clear with reports of some brown trout hookups. On the Oak guys are getting brown trout hook ups each day with that action seeming to heat up as the fresh salmon action begins to cool down. Seasonable cold winter weather for the end of week with some LES happening south and west of here. Fishing pressure is light all around and no significant icing conditions are hindering drifting chances. Looks like, just today, guys are paying more attention to the gravel spawning spots so they are finding those spread-out fish that were somewhat cloaked in the previous higher water. The recent changing winds, lightning and storms are not good for fishing but things did become more stable. This will entice more brown trout, steelhead and Atlantic and Pacific salmon to run up these streams, improving conditions for the fish and expanding opportunities for anglers. No doubt well have concentrations of Kings into November. Our best spoons were Geezer, UV Watermelon, Midnight Special, Wonderbread, and 42nd. As we hit 515 FOW the 85 rigger fires with a Warrior Lures Blue Jeans (on the 10 ft cheater). Trolling in a west direction was tough as the current was making it difficult. Ron Bierstine has wrapped up his stream fishing reports for the season. Point Breeze/Orleans County/east side boat launch is still closed while construction is hopefully soon to wrap up. Both inshore structure, mid water and offshore has a mixed bag catch available. reminds boaters to Not be a fool in the fog and use your radar as they almost had an incident last week while fishing. Anglers report a few brown trout hook ups with steelhead hook ups possibly coming on stronger, and still a coho here and there. Amazing how when the vegetation awakens and the runoff equation changes. We are living and experiencing all the fishing action directly or thru trusted reports of other die hard anglers as it happens. stocked in Orleans County waters annually. Bob Songin of Reel Excitement Charters reports that fishing is still tough and sporadic. Within a few minutes, an 8 lb steelhead hit and Bill was on his first Lake Ontario fish. This Jan timeframe is historically a bit of an in-between time frame so any action is a bonus after the fall runs and before later winter/early spring steelhead. Its unknown how much longer Canal drainage flows will last but it likely is not that long. Best bass spots are downriver around Joseph Davis State Park and Youngstown near Fort Niagara. Flows in the Oak are about medium and slightly stained with about 2 ft of visibility. But in all likelihood the greater accumulations will be SW of here with the chance that the WNY Niagara Frontier may not get all that much. Good drifts on lighter leads are still scoring some hook ups on some dark and slightly silver fish. She bought him the trip to repay him for taking her fishing when she was young. Greater impacts expected SW of here but the south shore of Lake Ontario may get some accumulations. Total snow cover in the immediate area may only be 6 inches give or take, but the snow is wind swept bare in spots or drifted in feet otherwise. A few more lake trout have shown up in the river to do their spawning ritual. Fishing pressure looks more like the end of November than the beginning of November for this mid week period so far. Upstream action so far mainly for a few fish at the dam. Flows in Johnson Creek for sure up and even stained from a pretty good shot of water. With cool water temperatures, rig depths of 30 to 80 ft down are getting Troutman 2 anglers kings coho and some whopper lake trout! There are still Kings around, about in a one qtr green fish to three qtr old moldy ratio. Still no real cool down afoot and the forecast ahead thru the weekend and maybe some of next week looks warm. Lets hope the weather keeps serving up the so-far good fishing chances! Mid week at dawn 1 for 2 with this nice fresh hen landed at the Oakrivermouth. Click the image to subscribe to our weekly fishing reports. Any new precipitation could likewise bring those flows back up and dirty. Its situated parallel to the Thruway so its visible from both directions. Upcoming weekend warm up should keep things open and we might be looking at some more serious icing and retreating flows after that for next week. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. I for one am glad for some consistent winter weather to at least reset seasonal conditions after the mild fall. Forecast ahead is for a mid week warmup with chance of rain or showers end of week and then sharply cooler for the weekend. The expectations were high as the last trip out we had a good number of silver fish. King numbers are slowly building in fast water areas on the Oak, besides whats been good numbers at the dam and the downstream frog water areas. Not sure if we are even going to see the typical influx of trout guys those crowds are already tardy not unlike the trout and salmon migrations. Hard copies can be requested by emailing FWFish@dec.ny.gov. After a quick hit of real cold weather this past weekend, we are back to mild temps that are forecast at least thru this week. All the trib flows look on the retreat from previous snowmelt and precipitation. We received 10,000 steelhead and 113,500 salmon from the DEC today as part of the Pen Rearing Project to keep the lake stocked. That could be the ticket to get some salmon migrations cranking. (Artificial lures only). He cites that the Salmon showed up earlier in the season due to a number of factors, including a warmer winter, less ice on Lake Erie and an earlier Spring. Flows in the Oak are still humming along at slightly high consisting of a good head of turbine water. Wrap around Lake Effect Snow after the storm may bring all the snow accumulations north and south about equal anyway. Congratulations to the winner of the 2021 Summer LOC Derbys grand prize of $10,000, Michael Paddock from Albion who held the lead since July 13th with his 31 lb 7 oz salmon he caught aboard Aquarius. Oak Orchard Creek Oswego River Salmon River N.Y. FLOW DATA (Lake Erie) Buffalo Creek Cattaraugus Creek Cayuga Creek N.Y. FLOW DATA (Lake Ontario) Genesee River Oswego River MICHIGAN WEATHER Au Sable River Little Manistee River Muskegon River Pere Marquette River MICHIGAN FLOW DATA Au Sable River Manistee River Pere Marquette River The past days, since the weekend, rains and high water has been tough for most. A PFD is not required to fish all of the Oak, only on the Brookfield Power Company areas below the dam (about 600 feet) where wading is permitted. And then theres always that concentration of fish and people at the dam. After that for end of week and weekend, the forecast is back to cold temps and another round of measurable snow. Please use the Oak Orchard State Boat Launch on Archbald Rd. Other area smaller waterways will be snowed and frozen in. Its a difficult forecast to predict what may happen to trib conditions but any over-the-all colder temps that will come along with the icing or snow should continue the dropping and clearing trend in the waterways to mod in the Oak and low in the smaller waterways. Call 585-682-4546 or email document.getElementById("eeb-573343-278334").innerHTML = eval(decodeURIComponent("%27%69%6e%66%6f%40%66%69%73%68%6f%61%6b%6f%72%63%68%61%72%64%2e%63%6f%6d%27"))*protected email* for a reservation ASAP! That flow is still actually fishable unless its high AND dirty. With the river water at 75+ degrees salmon wont be heading up in big numbers but there are always a few of the early runners. Temperatures have finally started dropping with cooler weather setting in. Stay tuned tho for any future high water that could really perk things up. The Tourism Dept has also been busy redesigning an Orleans County Fishing Map Pad (1117) that will be distributed throughout the county. Rigger: 65-95 down. Steelhead should be spread thru the waterways and reports of a few fresh, silver browns too. Chance of rain/snow showers for the mid part of this week with forecasted mixed bag precipitation of rain, sleet and snow thru the end part of the week. You can lay a rod down on the bank or net a fish or walk around a wading obstruction for safety but anglers cannot be on the Archers Club grounds on the dates not included above. To the east flows are also somewhat higher then typical fall flows with slightly stained water color. He captured the lead today aboard the Stalker, weighing in at Olcott. Team Screamer (pictured below) won the PRO division with a score of 447.19 and Team Roll With It won the Amateur division with 257.77 points (also pictured below). Real light fishing pressure today, only one car observed in the parking spots on the Oak. Temps are forecast to begin to cool down for the end of this week and thru the weekend. (Deadline for the Open was Monday, 6/7). Kings are coming, are you ready?! Patience and persistence on the Oak may finally be paying off. Flows in the other area smaller tribs should be around med and slightly stained. Up in the gorge, Mike Rzucidlo of Niagara Falls was at Artpark on Tuesday and caught two small walleyes and eight small bass on jigs. Fish for bass on Sodus Bay throwing-out worm rigs between the islands at the north end of the bay. On Saturday there were bass boats fishing on the south side next to the Port Gibson bridge. Read Fishing Reports Weather for Oak Orchard . Expect daily water level fluctuations this time of the year because of leaf fall and wind. Use caution because the current on the narrow waterway can be dangerous. Theres no significant icing anywhere that we are aware of. No prepared food will be served and the Catch and Release Fly Fishing Tourney will not take place for 2021. Over all though, the brown trout action on the Oak is tough. Im just returning from the Fly Fishing Show in Edison, NJ so will need to come back up to speed on fishing info as some angler reports come in. He captured the lead today aboard the Stalker, weighing in at Olcott. On the backside of this latest cold weather and accompanying wind, the land lubber casters and small boat trollers and small boat casters should be able to get back on those near shore brown trout in semi stained water while the cooler water and bait hangs around. We are surely going to have water for high and off color flows when the weather breaks toward spring. Other area smaller tribs should be open and ice free in the upstream reaches with some lower river ice cover or jams. We are in the high season for visiting fisherman so go to. Bob Songin of Reel Excitement Charters Lake Fishing Video Report on Facebook. Hard copies can be requested by emailing FWFish@dec.ny.gov. Pitch a retrieve and wait for the hard jolt! Releases may change due to weather, engineering controls and other conditions. Flows in the Oak are restored thru the turbine channel. Chance of rain showers hit and miss thru the end part of the week. The following report is courtesy of Captain Andy Bliss of Cold Steel Sportfishing. Thankful for that continued Erie Canal water feed for select tribs as the forecasted precipitation at this time not likely to cause a big change in trib flows. Slight bump up in trib flows yesterday from little bit of rain and snowmelt. Peach of a day today and it looks like guys are more seriously getting out there this week. If you stayed patient and made some drifts or swings when the good flows returned by mid Apr you could be rewarded with a hungry drop back steelhead. The smaller side channels and Trout and Orwell brook all have fish; which are providing the most action at this time. Bob Songins At the Oak report this past week, the mature salmon are both off shore (31-33) and in-shore (80-150). Early Sep 2017. Cooling weather and water will also help bring on better brown trout and steelhead action and the area is not likely to suffer thru any more real warm weather now that we are well into October. 106. 585-682-4546 A nice spate of water which is hanging on in the Oak and retreating in the other area smaller tribs back to the base Canal feed. Flogging one spot like at the Archers Club may not yield more then off and on action. View the calendar of releases at the link below. We may request cookies to be set on your device. Keep informed from the NYS Canal web for changes and restrictions with canal waters. Then coupled with the mixed bag of Atlantics and steelhead and cohos, the hook up chances sound pretty good. Neither of them had ever been on Lake Ontario. The last few weeks out of Bald Eagle Marina we have been fishing offshore as there has been some good steelhead action with a few teenage kings in the mix. There was another couple inches of wet snow and something like a 0.25 inch of rain thru last night. You can see the Canal drainage influence in the stained color but Canal release flows sure look more tempered in the smaller tribs then say the Oak. Brown trout on an average are on the smaller side this year with a bigger one here and there mixed in. Even lucky, old and not pretty casters like the Licorice Man can get in on the early hard striking and fighting fresh King action at the Oak Orchard rivermouth! Any significant precipitation could bring flows quickly back up and off color. With fair to good bolstered flows from the Erie Canal guys are reporting good brown trout action with a green King here and there and/or a sporty colorful coho. The full moon that was maybe responsible for the uptick in migrations just recently is now on the wane. The 2021 New York State fishing guide can be found at https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7917.html for downloading and printing at home. Working 100-200 fow, It took us a while to get bit, but our first fish was a 17 lb king. So anglers can mix it up with that turbine tunnel action at the dam or they can work their way downstream for more traditional drifts thru holes and runs. Hours are 7 am till 5pm. Fresh silver browns too and chance for bonus steelhead or salmon. An honest notch or so less (slightly high) then the previous wide open turbine flows with overflow levels diminished. Downstream spots on the Oak for the past weekend may have been tougher on what was dropping and clearing flows, although we did not hear from many guys. More upcoming windy systems produce stirred inshore water which releases river scent so expect more incoming big fish! From Capt. No significant icing on any waterway. Still some steelhead action hanging on in the Oak thanks to a return to good high flows without any real spike in water temps yet. With the lake conditions ideal for offshore fishing, we headed out to the 27 line and trolled north. We have also been catching fish from 25-70 down. The previous cold temps sure did clear up the water color with just a nice stain of about 2 ft of visibility. This up and down would be mostly unnoticed under ice cover anyway, except for on the Oak. There were some hook ups thru the past weekend right before this latest rise in flows. Bit of a stalemate in the weather for now with warmish days but below freezing nites. Kings and cohos have been hanging around in 110-160 FOW between the farm and the glass house. Chance of icing in select areas. To the east look for a quicker turn for lower and clearer flows and doable drifts then to the west. The fair action now is hopefully a good sign for action yet to come thru Feb/Mar. Its ok and encouraged for out of the area anglers to verify their economic impact for the upstate NY tourism economies! Walleye fishing has been good on the Niagara Bar. Not sure yet how much of a change in flows in the Oak well see, but with the precip received so far it shouldnt be bad enough for a blow out. Ive heard from visiting Rec boats (AKA recreational) that west of the Point in 100-200 ft of water got em steelhead and coho salmon action. Definitely breaking toward Spring so get those cold water steelhead drifts in while you can. Welcome to November and better brown trout chances! Heres the skinny on the weather, and we are not meteorologists. Fridays big east wind iced the inside waters where mature kings were being caught from 120 feet of water and in prior to the wind. Flows in the Oak are still slightly high and water color has improved with 2 ft of visibility. The other area smaller tribs have medium flows and slightly stained water color. When it cools down eventually its going to feel downright chilly. Real light fishing pressure except for a few guys fishing nearer the dam and they have been getting hook ups. Best spoon is a gold laser spook. Get the monthly weather forecast for Dsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, including daily high/low, historical averages, to help you plan ahead. For now on the Oak anglers seem to be hooking up on a few steelhead nearest the dam that came along with the higher flows of a few weeks ago mixed in with a handful of fresh fish trickling in thru the downstream fast water. (Highly recommended!) Most fish came from 50-90 down (44 degrees to 60-degree water) under 74-degree surface waters. A weak cold front coming through today will change water tempshopefully creating a better bite. The Lake Ontario Counties spring trout and salmon derby is approaching its final weekend and a new $15,000 Grand Prize leader has emerged this week as Ken Champagne of Ohio caught a 25-pound, 8-ounce Niagara Bar king salmon on a flasher-fly, besting Jeff Smith of New Brighton, Pa. who had taken the early lead on the first day of the contest May 7. If the forecast is realized with any significant rain, then flows all around could be back on the rise and going off color. Wow! A few leftover coho and browns are in the system too. Sunday, we caught a decent variety: a couple of big salmon, 2 year olds, matures, a steelhead and couple of cohoes. Chance of an inch or so of area wide snow tonight on the Lake Ontario plain with 2-3 inches expected to the south. With no real winter to come out of and trib and open lake water temps all on the warmer side, who knows for sure how the steelhead gods will play things out over the next couple months?! The following report is courtesy of Capt. So far we are probably looking at some fish from earlier higher water and new fish trickling in on medium-ish flows instead of one bigger batch of fish on a blow out event. With the previous high and off color flows in the Oak its been a bit of a challenge for good drifts and swings. For now on the Oak, anglers seem to be hooking up on a few steelhead nearest the dam that came along with the higher flows of a few weeks ago mixed in with a handful of fresh fish trickling in thru the downstream fast water. Chance of some Lake Effect Snow this weekend with any accumulations expected south of here off Lake Erie. Last week, on good flows, there was good action, then tougher again thru the past weekend on higher flows and now this week before another potential rise in flows there are a few more guys out there getting scattered hook ups. It may just not be the big blowout event were targeting, but smaller spates of water for now. That may well all blow out after this latest round of precipitation. This weekend is theOrleans County Open Tournament(June 12-13) with the King of the Oak (KOTO) on Friday (6/11). Rick Hajecki from Crazy Yankee Sportfishingreminds boaters to Not be a fool in the fog and use your radar as they almost had an incident last week while fishing. Past weekend action a little slower perhaps a result of increased fishing pressure. It looks like a real good head of turbine water with no significant overflow water. Flows in the Oak have retreated some to slightly high and slightly stained. Avoid surfaces that are touched often, such as doorknobs, handrails, and playground equipment. Kings have for the most part given up the ghost and now some carcasses are seen seeding the waterway. Anglers often find flows still a bit high and a bit stained and for sure cold but thats the nature of steelheading and the chance for a multiple hook up day. Good looking nice active fish all around. Mixed sizes today with a couple in the 10 lb range and a couple around 28 lbs, most were in the 15 to 18 lbs. The 2nd will be a 2 day event September 4th and 5th. We are hearing of a few more browns now in the Oak, especially thru yesterday. The fishing this last week has been better than the previous couple weeks. This weekend there is a scheduled white-water release, that plus the cooler temperatures should attract a better push. Well have to wait and see how much they rise and open up and how much additional snow accumulations like in the Oak upper watershed get things rolling. 3 spinners to catch a fair number of smallmouth bass earlier this week. Any below freezing night could make for some skim ice or chunky flows in an exposed waterway like Sandy. Client comfort and satisfaction are top priorities for the Captain. Most hook up chances will come from long and light float presentations at the dam. Theres probably still some old Orleans Outdoor content out there on the web and Goggle. Same set up as the night before. Oak rivermouth dredging operations are likely days away from finishing. Here in the Oak Orchard neighborhood theres something like 18+ inches of a medium dense snow so therell be a good supply of runoff flows when it melts.