October 2025 Fishing Reports
It's feeling a little more like fall fishing weather lately with cooler temps, some colder nights and rain to go along. Rain is again in the forecast for the end of this week so we will have to wait and see what, if any, changes to trib flows there may be. The forecasted rainfall amount and locations are so far variable, with a chance of +/- 1 inch for select areas. So far, all the previous rains have not had that great an effect on trib flows except for maintenance and it's suspected that a whole bunch more rainfall would be needed to make all the waterways go out of shape.
There was a fair amount of angling pressure on the waterways through the past weekend. So far this mid-week period it seems somewhat less pressured with still a fair amount of guys at the parking spots and Archers Club on the Oak. It's about a 50/50 mix now of salmon anglers and trout anglers. The salmon “run” has a while to play out so anglers should have the chance for big fish hook-ups easily through Nov. Brown trout and steelhead and cohos for Oak Orchard mixed bag chances have begun for the season. And NYSDEC in some routine sampling for ongoing Atlantic salmon restoration efforts just recently turned up some nice mature fish in the Oak. Lucky drifters and swingers will be getting into those fish no doubt in the upcoming days. There’s been some outright fresh salmon landed on the Oak that have barely begun to darken up.
Flows in the Oak have been fluctuating both from routine hydropower operations and changes in run of the river. Rain, wind and heavier flows can bring on more water level fluctuations. Flows had recently come down from about med to mod, yet when I looked at flows today there was a good head of mostly clear water at about med. It's unclear how long that flow will last. A significant amount of upcoming precipitation might cause flows to go higher. Some anglers remarked of more Kings moving through the Oak today, and there’s been reports of brown trout action picking up lately. More and more fly anglers are out this time of the year, with most success on dead-drifted egg pattern flies. Spin rodders and pin anglers are also in on the action with eggs, skein, beads and now lately more jig drifts.
The other area smaller waterways like Johnson has bumped up modestly from “peak” Canal water feed. Anglers are spread out on that waterway and report mixed bag hook-ups for salmon and trout. Runs of salmonids there recently are likely responding to the last rise in flows. In Sandy, flows are low to mod but are enough that the waterway is driftable for lighter line techniques. Anglers in the streamcourse mid sections are finding some browns now spread out with greater concentrations lower down in the rivercourse. With an upcoming “peak” Canal water feed, there looks for more action coming on. Anglers use caution in creeling browns or Atlantics – keeping in mind the daily creel limit is one each and at 15-inch min. for browns and 25-inch min. for an Atlantic. Be sure that brown trout is not an undersized Atlantic! Catch and release can solve any discrepancy there!
The St. Mary’s Archers Club 2025 public access fall season parking is open from Oct. 10 through Nov. 11. Parking is $10, with gates opening at 5 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. A lunch will also be served this year. For updates, visit the Sportsman’s Archery Club of St Mary’s Inc Facebook page.
Well we are getting the wet and cooler weather finally that we all hoped for. Since the past weekend and through the beginning part of this week, there has been 3/4 to 1 inch of rain for the area. Yet given as dry and droughty as existing conditions are – there’s been no high or dirty or blown water conditions. The Oak and other area smaller waterways, according to gauging stations, are showing just a small bump up.
A note about the USGS stream gauges (aside from the normal limitations) is that websites are displaying a different look due to the current federal government shutdown, and data may not always be accurate or verifiable. The North Hamlin (Sandy) station may additionally have been showing some inaccuracies even beforehand.
There is a chance for rain or showers today and another chance at soaking rain midweek and more showers through the end of week. The forecast is for continued cool temps and additional accumulations of 0.50 + inches rain. At the forecasted rate of rainfall and existing droughty conditions, we do not expect waterways to get to an unfishable condition. There have been some windy conditions with resultant leaf fall. Expect likely daily water level fluctuations at the Oak thanks to hydropower operations and turbine rack cleaning of leaves and debris. Leaf fall could be extended this year due to so far limited cold weather and the dry conditions.
Flows in the Oak are medium and just slightly stained. A peak period of Erie Canal water feed is scheduled to be reduced, so flows may go down a little bit by the end of this week if rainfall is not enough to keep flows up. Check out the Erie Canal Fall Fishing Program tab link on this page for additional and upcoming flow release dates for other tribs. Flows in the other area smaller waterways are up slightly from what was low-mod to mod-med and slightly stained. Look for leaves, weeds and debris to be moving out of all the waterways. Erie Canal peak water release periods upcoming should really benefit the smaller waterways but the slight perk up right now should be a good trigger for tardy salmon migrations and newer trout migrations. Overall angler intel from the smaller waterways sometimes does not come as freely as say, from the Oak, but we are hearing from a few guys about intercepting what sounds like the first mass seasonal movements of browns and having a banner time.
On the Oak, fishing pressure perked up the past weekend and for the beginning part of this week. There are more trout anglers getting out lately, looking for browns and steelhead and Atlantics. Salmon chances are still good and those anglers haven’t given up their pursuits yet – and really shouldn’t. There are barely just some Kings beginning to show signs of wear with no great zombie patrols just yet. This latest change in weather, with the added precipitation, seems to have put some more Kings on the move. Near-shore Lake fish are moving in and lower river fish are moving up to frog water spots and frog water fish are moving up to the fast water stretches.
Archers Club and that mid river area is producing a few hook ups for anglers hanging in, with upstream areas nearer the dam producing prob a little better. Mixed bag chances now with more browns and a few steelhead and Atlantics reported. Anglers continue to say they see fish migrating or salmon crashing around with sometime a frustrating lack of hookups. Salmon anglers at the dam are benefiting from more ernest King movement that might have begun just before the latest precipitation. Look for the fair to good salmon action at the dam to continue with more and more brown trout in the mix. It remains mostly a skein and eggs and bead bite with float anglers who are able to make the best light line dead drift presentations, having the best luck. If you’re more interested in swinging presentations, now can be the time in the cool water periods before the cold water periods for best action. The key is to find less harried fish.
The St. Mary’s Archers Club 2025 public access fall season parking is open from Oct. 10 through Nov. 11. Parking is $10, with gates opening at 5 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. A lunch will also be served this year. For updates, visit the Sportsman’s Archery Club of St Mary’s Inc Facebook page.
Flows in the Oak are at an honest medium and mostly clear. There’s a nice push of Canal water feed that is making flows as they are, and without it the water levels would be much lower. The droughty conditions continue for the area, and the most recent precipitation has not broken those conditions just yet. The forecast ahead calls for a cool down mid-week and a chance of rain or showers for the upcoming weekend. Any advance toward cooler or wetter weather will definitely help with salmon and trout migrations.
Through the past holiday weekend, there were a fair number of anglers out like at the dam on the Oak. To the uninitiated, it may seem like a lot of fishing pressure, but relatively speaking, the crowds have really not been that bad. The downstream fast water areas have even less pressure than at the dam, even with Archers Club parking now open. Anglers that might be waiting for a bigger push of fish are likely missing the smaller pods of fish migrating over a longer period of time. There are enough years in the books now that sort of demonstrate that is the way the “run” of Kings now takes place. Sure, on any given day, there could be a good push of fish, but most likely, fish will continue to trickle in over time. Open Lake waters remain hospitable, so it's likely many fish have yet to enter trib water plumes. The smaller area waterways like Johnson and Sandy remain low to mod and haven’t had a big slug of water to draw a lot of fish in just yet. Flows seem only enough to draw a few salmon at a time.
Today, guys reported a nice skein and bead bite at the dam, with some guys hanging in for a day's effort, getting multiple hookups. Guys making their way downstream have found some spawning salmon action, like in the picture below. There is plenty of water cover to hide green Kings and any browns that may be set up behind them. There have been a few really nice fresh cohos hooked up at the dam. At the Archers Club, the action sounds fair to good at times, and some Atlantics are reported there. Look for salmon action still hanging on through the whole of the river course from Point Breeze to the dam. Best brown trout action is still coming on as the calendar moves toward the end of October and into November, with whatever the weather and water flows may bring ahead!
The St. Mary’s Archers Club 2025 public access fall season parking is open from Oct. 10 through Nov. 11. Parking is $10, with gates opening at 4-5 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. A lunch will also be served this year. For updates, visit the Sportsman’s Archery Club of St Mary’s Inc Facebook page.
Finally, today we are getting the most precipitation the area has seen this whole past summer and so far fall. For the Oak Orchard area, there’s been 3/4 – 1 inch of rain, and there is the chance for more through later today/tonight. Chance of more rain south of here that would still reach the Oak Orchard watershed. It's unlikely that any of the area tribs will have high and dirty or unfishable conditions as a result of today's rain, since conditions were so droughty previously. Coupled with the precipitation today is lower temps and forecasted NW winds for tomorrow. These are all good conditions for salmon migrations, and there’s a strong likelihood Kings and trout and Atlantics will be pushing up the tribs.
Very excited for this change in the weather, especially as it's coupled with a relief from the exceptionally hot temps we were having. It's still early yet in the trib season for trout action, but for sure, this will move things along and should definitely help with salmon migrations. Look for more movement up from lower river/estuary spots, like in the smaller tribs like Johnson and Sandy. Where things were already underway, somewhat like at the Oak, look for more near-shore movement from the Lake and the different pods of what were dour podded up fish to be on the move. Latest angler reports from today confirm some crashing fish, like at the Bridges area and rivermouth.
Flows shouldn’t change much except for a brief tick up with possibly a little color to the water. Run of the river has been dominated by Erie Canal feed in Oak, Sandy and Johnson. Look for med flows in the Oak and mod flows in the smaller waterways. Hopefully, the weather ahead continues to stay cool and wet for good trib chances! Fishing pressure should amp up toward the upcoming holiday weekend.
The St. Mary’s Archers Club 2025 public access fall season parking will be from Oct. 10 through Nov. 11. Parking is $10, with gates opening at 4-5 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. A lunch will also be served this year. For updates, visit the Sportsman’s Archery Club of St Mary’s Inc Facebook page.
By sun tan standards the weather sure is agreeable, by fall fishing standards not so much! We’ve had some amazing warm and clear and calm and sunny and dry days lately – and the near term forecast looks about the same. Chance of barely a cool down over the mid-week period, then warm again. No real good chance for any precipitation for about a week. The area remains in a droughty period.
Thanks to Erie Canal enhanced water feed for the Oak, Johnson and Sandy those tribs are fairing way, way better then would be expected due to the dry conditions. Those flows for almost med in the Oak and mod in the smaller waterways are allowing for the action we are having despite the warm weather. With a little cool down and added precip things could really pick up. Night time temps have been dropping back so water temps are at least not spiking hot.
So as much as we’d like to see a more serious cool down with some precipitation to fire up the trib and near shore Lake action, anglers are still getting into some good Kings on and off. At the Waterport dam there are pretty good numbers of fish reported, with the best bite usually early or late in the cooler temp periods. Otherwise in the bright and heat of the day its reported the fish aren’t in a biting mood. Downstream fast water spots aren’t yet holding many salmon that we know of. Please keep in mind though, that any fish at the dam has had to come through the downstream spots, so you just have to be there when they are migrating through. If they decide to hold for a bit in a slot or run then a drifting angler has a shot. Lately not a lot of fish reported crashing around in lower river staging spots. Small numbers may be stealthily moving thru or more then likely most fish are still staged in the Lake.
There is a decent number of small craft boaters around Point Breeze working the Oak rivermouth like on the weekends. These casters and trollers and jiggers have reported some good action at times. The same bluebird calm weather though will make for a tougher bite out there when clear and calm water prevails – and so the low light or at night periods become the best option. Today there is a bit of a forecasted NE wind that could make for a little stain to the water. A prevailing W wind or something SW would sure help clear out a lot of weeds that have been troublesome at times.
Stay tuned, the spawning salmon and soon to follow trout action should only improve as things might cool down and get a little wetter!
The St. Mary’s Archers Club 2025 public access fall season parking will be from Oct. 10 through Nov. 11. Parking is $10, with gates opening at 4-5 a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. A lunch will also be served this year. For updates, visit the Sportsman’s Archery Club of St Mary’s Inc Facebook page.
