A nice mid-week warm up is in the forecast with highs in the 50’s°F and chance of rain showers later today and tonight. Slightly cooler expected for end of week and upcoming weekend. The previous few inches of snow has melted and there are still some piles or drifts melting thru today. The melt off has perked up the trib flows slightly with medium flows in the Oak. Visibility is about 3 ft and just slightly stained. Nice fishing conditions that may drop back soon without maintenance precipitation.
The other area smaller waterways have moderate to medium flows with stained water color of about 2 ft of visibility. Looks like a little more water to the east then to the west. These flows should be the calling card for any fresh spring steelhead migrations, especially as water temps go back on the rise. The Oak seems to be the best game in town with a few guys still hanging in making drifts and swings and picking up a few steelhead. With water temps back on the rise, look for some fish to be back on gravel and drop back fish moving from the Waterport dam.
Casters, small boat trollers and shake down charters should be back in the near shore and pier head game after a few days of stiff winds and cold temps. Lake temps actually have fell back a degree or two for now. In the near shore big Lake Ontario waters Cpt. Mike Lavender from Intimidator Charters reports "the weather is fickle but when you can get out to 8 - 16 FOW, the action has been good. Medium size stickbaits in natural colors and Chinook divers with your best brown trout spoons will work. Find the colored water and work it." Check out the nice brown recently landed.
Pen reared fish are scheduled for delivery April 1 from NYSDEC. Twenty thousand (20,000) steelhead and 138,210 King salmon will be reared in the net pens in downstream waters for 3 – 4 weeks before release. King salmon stocking numbers are increased from 2023. These numbers include just some of the allotted trout and salmon stocking for Point Breeze and the Oak.
Many thanks to the volunteer help for net pen assembly. Twenty two thousand five hundred (22,500) cohos were previously direct stocked. More steelhead, browns, Lakers and Atlantics yet to follow.
Good trib fishing chances right now despite a cold and snowy forecast. Nearshore Lake Ontario trolling and casting chances could be a little challenging thanks to the cold weather and some stiff winds. Over the past end of week and weekend there was 1.00+ in of rain that raised the trib flows up with some color to the water. Flows in the Oak actually went briefly high but have since retreated to something like medium flows and about 2 ft of nicely stained visibility.
Forecast ahead right thru the weekend looks like highs in the 30°s and dropping back to the 20's°F at night. Daylength seems too long now for any significant icing conditions but the trib water temps should be dropping back from what was an early warming trend. Snow showers and chance of an area wide snow end of week with no major accumulations expected.
The spate of water for the Oak seems to have rejuvenated the semi spawned and drop back fish like the feisty steelhead in the pic below. Anglers are still into good numbers of fish like at the dam and the immediate downstream water. Some fish are spawning there and also all the typical gravel spots all the way to the Archers Club have been populated with staged or spawning fish. Adjacent holes will have some fish but drifts will have to sort thru some sucker hook ups to get at them. Over-the-all there’s a pretty good accounting of steelhead numbers with hopefully fresh fish continuing to trickle in.
Fishing pressure has only been moderate at times but is generally manageable. Precipitation ahead can hopefully maintain reasonable trib flows with good opportunities into April. The other area smaller tribs have moderate to medium flows and slightly stained water color. Less intel lately from those waters but like the Oak, the smaller waterways should benefit from this latest cool down and slight rise in flows with fresh fish migrations. In the near term, thanks to the colder forecast, look for flows all around to be dropping and clearing.
The past weekend’s weather and precipitation wasn’t enough to change trib flows. Rainfall and snow was minimal here on the WNY Lake Ontario Plain. Greater accumulations were south of here. For now, flows in the Oak are low and clear and the other area smaller waterways are just a little less low at something like moderate and slightly stained. Trib water temps have at least for now fell back or stalled from what was a warming trend. There’s a bit of a mid week weather warmup forecast with chance of rain end of week and then cooling down again for the weekend. Chance of colder temps prevailing thru some part of next week. Looks like the nice warm temps today and calming winds have perked up the angling pressure on the Oak with anglers parked at the Waterport dam and downstream at the Park Ave Ext.
Careful long and light float drifts should find some fish in the holes and downstream frog water. Anglers are making some careful swings to spawning fish in the riffles too. Look for low trib and likewise low big Lake Ontario levels for now. GL’s basin wide low precipitation and light snowpack are not raising Lake Ontario levels as a typical spring. Anglers are out on the Point Breeze piers casting the near shore waters primarily for brown trout and no doubt some small boat trollers are shaking down too. There’s good looking semi stained water now after a couple days of stiff winds. That’s the game on the spring nearshore big Lake Ontario waters for best success – trying to find that tasty green water! Nearshore water temps are flirting with 40°F already.
Precipitation thru the past weekend here on the WNY Lake plain was not enough to raise trib flows up. Flows in the Oak and other area smaller waterways are low and clear. Unseasonably warm temps for this beginning part of the week are raising trib water temps into the 40’s°F for the Oak and mid to high 40’s°F for the smaller waterways.
Look for some spawning activity – at least for those fish not already having spawned in the higher off color flows of a month or so ago. Given the warming temps some steelhead are likely trickling in – yet it’s a tough call for migrations thanks to the low and clear and warm flows from what is typically higher and colder and stained flows for this time of the year.
Forecast ahead for the rest of the week is cooling down some with chance of rain or showers tonight/tomorrow and maybe again begin part of the weekend. Rainfall tonight/tomorrow expected at 0.25 – 0.50 inch. Something like a 0.50 in or more of rain likely needed to change trib flows. Lots of calendar time ahead for more steelhead action, especially on more favorable weather or flow conditions, so keep an eye on the weather for changes.
Fishing pressure has been light. Look for fish holed up in deeper water spots like at the dam or downstream thru some of the deeper holes, and fish here and there on gravel. Casting and small boat trolling chances on the near shore of Lake Ontario waters definitely coming on thanks to the warm weather. Anglers are finding lots of eager smallish browns and a few better fish in the 6+ lb range thrown in. Check out the nice medium size brown trout below that posed just long enough for a pic. Those numerous fish are primed to become next fall’s hefty spawning trib fish. A little NE wave action yesterday lead to the nice green and stained water being within casting range from the pier heads for land lubber action. At least one small boat troller at Point Breeze today also getting some hook ups while finding clearing water then yesterday so they are pulling the planer boards in more of the 18 – 20 fow range.
