This week's fishing report is from Ron Bierstine, Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge:
More rain thru yesterday (Mon) and today (Tues) with continued cooler weather. Forecast is for rain ending later today and a couple days of clearing for mid week. All the trib flows are on the rise and going off color. Rain has been slow and steady so look for smaller area trib flows to go high and dirty – probably stopping short of blown. This latest rain has come uncharacteristically from the east so to the west may be in slightly better shape then to the east. Smaller area tribs should crest about mid week and then be on the retreat for end of week. Look for good drift opportunities on the backside of the higher flows with the chance for fresh trout migrations and Kings to be well spread thru the water courses.
Guys in the Oak early today still fishing what's been the medium – ish flows and slightly stained, but flows likely headed toward high and stained if not later today then by tomorrow. Good chance that flows can be contained in the turbine channel so look for a good head of turbine water. Flows likely to remain up and stained at least thru the weekend. Thru this beginning part of the week, most hook up action has still been mostly for Kings. Action reported pretty good around the Archers Club yesterday and then slower today. Maybe those fish pushed further upriver as so far there's not been a lot of holding or spawning action except for the piling up at the dam.
For the Oak, this latest spate of water should bring on the bulk of the King action with some spawning underway no doubt under the cover of the higher and dirtier water flows. Guys have so far caught a few browns and a few steelhead and a few cohos and a few Atlantics. This latest rise in flows and continued cool down should kick off better brown trout migrations in the Oak setting up good drifting chances into November and maybe into December with reasonable weather hanging in. We, for sure, have the water flows for now! Canal water flow managers are likely throttling back any additional Canal releases into the tribs thanks to all the precipitation. Fishing pressure fairly heavy thru the past weekend and even thru yesterday but for this mid week period now with wetter weather looks quite a bit less.
Ron Bierstine from Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge reports:
The last shot of rain was Sunday and there's been some cooler weather for the beginning part of this week. Now for the mid week, it's warmed up again! But no worries the nights are cooler now and we had our coolest night yet of the season last night – into the 40's F. Chance of rain showers Thursday and again for the weekend.
All the trib flows are on the retreat from the last rain. Most noticeable drop will be the Oak since the Canal flows are also throttling back. Less noticeable will be in Sandy since Canal flows there are throttling up. Johnson Creek had a nice bump in flows and got stained and guys reported some salmon on the move there. Otherwise it's a little tough to report on average fishing conditions. I'd say I'm hearing about 50/50 in good/tough fishing. Seems like the Kings just aren't concentrated in any particular fast water spot in any trib and that's the tougher reports I hear from guys. The better reports I hear are from guys that have some Kings migrate past them or hold and they get some drifts to them.
There's been on and off good action like at the Archer's Club and some Kings continue to drop back from the dam. And then there's always that concentration of fish and people at the dam. We'll probably continue to see a drawn out salmon "run." There's not a lot of fish spawning or even many zombies yet so that tells you things are progressing slowly. No doubt we'll have concentrations of Kings into November.
We are hearing of a few more browns now in the Oak, especially thru yesterday. Slightly lower flows will likely reveal more browns then thought when the water was higher. 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. Hopefully… the fishing pressure overall is likewise spread out like the fish. A few guys report crowding, but as compared to say last year I'd have to say there are a few less guys out and about. A good WNW wind thru last night probably moved more fish near shore or into the tribs from Lake Ontario but don’t look for those fish to loiter in estuary or rivermouth spots at this point in the season.
Ron Bierstine from Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge reports:
"Another unseasonably warm day today with chance of showers tonight. Next better chance at real rain is this weekend. Temps are forecast to begin to cool down for the end of this week and thru the weekend. Nights are cooling down tho, even with the current warm day temps and that has at least made for good fishing action early and late. A few Kings now are in a spawning mode and likely with the next consistent cool down, there’ll be a whole lot more.
The medium to slightly high flows in the Oak are proving to be a nice draw for Kings. That consistency the Oak is known for is showing thru once again. There's been some water level fluctuations thanks to hydro power operations already and look for that to continue with almost daily fluctuations expected due to leaf fall or windy conditions. When flows are reduced temporarily, it reveals pretty good numbers of fish. A fair amount of weeds are being discharged, especially noticeable in downstream areas.
Look for the past holiday weekend fishing pressure to ease some likely thru this week. King numbers are slowly building in fast water areas on the Oak, besides what's been good numbers at the dam and the downstream frog water areas. Even at this almost mid-Oct timeframe, there's still good hookup chances from the nearshore Lake Ontario all the way to the dam, so the fishing opportunity definitely will spread out. If anglers can get their drift thru the Kings, there's been some browns and steelhead hooked too. Those chances should only improve with cooler weather.
Other area smaller tribs like Johnson and Marsh have lower flows so look for scattered numbers of upstream fish. To the east, like at Sandy Creek, the higher Canal bolstered flows have made for better migration conditions with pods of salmon bolting from the estuary holding water and spreading upstream, along with a few browns mixed in."
Ron Bierstine from Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge reports:
All the trib flows are up just a bit from the latest rain thru yesterday. Not a blow out but enough precipitation to bump everything up with a nice spate of water for some fresh fish migrations. Flows in the Oak are slightly high and slightly stained with a good head of water contained in the turbine channel. Still no real cool down afoot and the forecast ahead thru the weekend and maybe some of next week looks warm. Next chance at precipitation or showers is this weekend. Anglers on the Oak reported small pods of Kings on the move thru the fast water areas yesterday. Not surprising since it was a real gloomy overcast wet kind of day that you would expect good fish movement. Not a lot of fish reported holding, still on that early run kamikazee mission to the dam. Look for Kings steaming thru the downstream fast water to the dam, from the frog water areas thru the fast water, from the lower river to the frogwater, and from the near shore big Lake O waters to the rivermouth/lower river. Be there to intercept them! Certain days you'll notice that salmon movement by seeing them crashing around, but as often as not that movement seems to go on quietly. Also a few more brown trout hook ups have been reported, but its plenty earlier for that with lots of good trout action ahead of us.
There's some brisk NE lakeshore winds that will make for some rough seas and cool and probably dirty water color. That could push more fish into the river plume and into the channel. Before things got too blown up yesterday guys reported some AM pier action. The other area smaller tribs should be going from mod/med flows to slightly stained med/slightly high flows. Flows should be back on the retreat already today with some stain hanging on. Scattered fish movement reported, that hoped for cool down would likely encourage more smaller trib movement. Reports of good King and some trout action at Burt 18 Mile Creek.
