June 2026 Reports
It was bound to happen sooner or later that some true summer weather would come on after the wet and cool spring that we had. And this week’s temps are expected to be in the upper 80’s or around 90 F with matching high humidity. Chance of passing storms with greatest chance of rains toward the end of the week. For now, some of the cool, fishy water has been not far offshore of Point Breeze. Will the latest heat wave or winds or upcoming storms change that pattern? Stay tuned and send those down probes down to find out!
Capt. Jonathan R. from Tomahawk Charters says the fishing is on and off right now. “Some boats are catching more then others but on average most boats are netting 5 – 7 fish. Some Charters are still getting their limits. Salmon are stacked in 80 – 140 fow east and west of port. The bite seems to be transitioning over to a flasher/fly and meat bite vs the full out spoon bite we had all spring.”
A few rec trollers have said that they are marking some bait as close as 30 fow with most other bait clouds around the 80+ fow range. Some of the bait marks have good hooks nearby and others do not. Some rec boats are headed off shore looking for that consistent deeper water pattern, while some are hitting the 150 fow range. One rec boat recently found their best bite down 65 – 86 ft with meat rigs.
CJO of Tightlines Charters is happy with the way Orleans County waters are setting up. “We’ve hit some gorgeous browns in 50 – 60 fow from the Little Flats to Devils Nose. Kings are scattered on alewife piles in 120 to 250 fow. Salmon are hitting spoons, cut bait and flies 50 – 100 ft down on the riggers. A few coho and steelhead are up at 35 – 50 ft on dipseys. Be careful out there this week with the extreme heat and PM thunderstorms!”
Have we moved through tougher fishing and the June transition period already? Could be, and we’ll take it because it was pretty quick. For now most all Charters and recs are reporting solid salmon action again after getting back out there for the end of the past weekend and so far this week.
There were gale or nearly gale west winds last week for Friday and Saturday which eased up on Sunday. That wind could be what pushed the Point Breeze and surrounding Orleans County waters so quickly through the transition. Its never fun watching those days go by when you can’t safely get out there, but in this case the winds seemed to put us right back in the salmon chips! A passing line of showers forecast Monday with a wrap around light east wind, then mostly stable weather expected for the rest of the week with chance of more rain end of week.
Capt. Rob W. from Legacy Charters says the weather has certainly been a challenge. “On Father’s Day the Lake conditions were perfect and the King bite was on fire. Best water for us was 140 – 220 fow with bites coming from down deep. Riggers down 80 – 120 ft, divers out 200 ft+ and big coppers all took bites. The biggest Kings came on paddles and cut bait including our biggest of the day a 22 pounder.”
Capt. Mike G. from Get Hooked Charters said getting out for the past weekend was tough. “Sunday was better with a mixed bag of Kings, cohos, steelhead and lakers. We found our action in 130 – 250 fow both east and west of port. Spoons fished 20 – 60 ft down took steelhead and salmon. Mag spoons and flasher flies produced 80 – 120 ft down for salmon and lakers. We’ll see if conditions change after Monday east winds, but it’s looking like stable weather after that for the next 4 – 6 days.”
Capt. Bob S. from Sunrise II says the fishing is really good right now. “There are fish from 80 out to 300 fow with some great temperature breaks both surface and down. There’s a high spoon bite and a deeper flasher/fly bite for great June fishing!”
June open Lake big water trolling action out of the Oak seems to be solidly in the “transition” phase as they say. Not to say that some boaters aren’t doing pretty well, and the Orleans County Open fishing derby held this past weekend did record some good boxes. There were top anglers fishing as usual and a few other anglers fished and competed hard while ending up with smaller boxes. The Orleans County Open 5 salmon and 5 trout PRO format with extra credit for steelhead makes for some interesting strategy for all the boaters competing. Often as is the case, the Oak Orchard Open at his time of the year is going to separate out some good anglers while others are just going to enjoy the competition and bettering their skills for next time.
On the PRO side there were 20 teams competing in the Orleans County Open, and 11 teams in the AM column. Sat and Sun where both full fishing days with mostly cooperative weather until around weigh-in time on Sunday when the heavy rains and winds hit. All boats were in by that point though but final weigh-in and prize give away had to be held under the cover of a bulk boat storage barn. Thanks to Ernst’s Lake Breeze Marina for hosting as well as all the volunteers, contributors and sponsors for helping put together the event. Thanks to NYSDEC creel survey team for their hard work in collecting samples.
Top 5 finishers in the Pro division were Tomahawk in 1st, Vision Quest 2nd, Legacy 3rd, Mister 4th and Thrillseeker 5th. All these teams had pretty good consistent day 1 and day 2 boxes.
For the win Team Tomahawk put together a solid plan of securing good Lake trout first off. Then day 2 steelhead action proved real good securing that extra credit. With some good Kings rounding out the box they sat solidly in 2nd place after day 1. Their day 2 box was the best of the tourney and so placed them ahead by a solid 60+ points for the win. They employed a full mix trolling spread and tweaked it throughout. Check out their FB post to see what worked best for them.
On the AM side Reel Slick II came in 1st, Deep Abys 2nd, Slam Pig 3rd and Rochester Reel Repair 4th. The AM division uses a format of a 3 salmon and 3 trout box. The winners generally had good point boxes for both days and jockeyed around some before final tally. Most all trollers finding success in the Orleans County Open found their fishy water east of port.
In the first leg of the King of the Oak (KOTO) held on Fri there were rough waters with tough salmon action. That we know of no one came in with a full 3 salmon box. Looks like Legacy Sportfishing got first place and see the results below. Two more KOTO events to go so come get in on the fun for Oak Orchard bragging rights!
What will happen for the rest of June and the “transition” period? Hard to say but no doubt the winds and weather will giveth and taketh some! Look for seasonable cool weather according to the long range forecast for what’s left of June. There’s the chance for off and on storms through this mid-week period and stronger winds by end of the week.
Somebody at Point Breeze said to me the other day that it was windy. I said yes, that’s why they call it Point Breeze! But seriously the winds of change are afoot that move water and temp around and therefore fish. Over the past weekend there were heavy west winds and then yesterday, Monday, there were some east winds. Today, Tue, the winds are nearly calm and water is likely moving back trying to stabilize. The forecast ahead for the week is for warming temps and a fair amount of unsettled weather with chance of rain or storms off and on.
Boaters and patrons at Orleans County Marine Park/Point Breeze and at Oak Orchard Marine State Park will notice the newly cleared east and west piers at the Oak Orchard Rivermouth. Thanks to the USACE and their contractor for getting that work done and how good it looks. It means easier access for all now!
This weekend upcoming on June 13 and 14 is the Orleans County Pro/Am. You can register at Ernst’s lake Breeze Marina or Route 18 Tackle. Or check out FB for more info and the first leg of the King of the Oak (KOTO) on Friday, June 12. Come get in on the fun and bragging rights and see if you can stack up against the usual tourney and Oak talent!
Today, Tue, there were some down currents out there that might have indicated water and temp was moving around. One experienced small boat troller in an early AM few hour troll found good water temps just east in 80 plus fow. But it was not an exciting sonar picture except for a few pods of bait with not many fish marked. So at least in the early hours out east it was a tough bite.
Otherwise Capt. Jerry S. of Rod Bender Charters reports “salmon and trout holding between 50 – 90 fow with a good spoon and meat rig bite. Carbon 14 and geyser and Mongolian beef have been hot spoon colors. The inside water had started to warm up but the wind and rain might cool it down by this weekend.”
Capt Bob S. from Sunrise II Charters has been fishing west of port in 80 – 180 fow at 40 – 90 ft down on the riggers for a spoon bite. Diver rods and spinners have produced some bites for us too.”
The Orleans County area waters of Lake Ontario have lately been under mostly stable weather conditions. Mostly calm or prevailing winds have set the good salmon action back up. The forecast ahead for the rest of the week looks warming and clear with favorable winds. Next chance of rain showers for the weekend. A redeeming asset of the waters off the Oak is that even after winds and rough seas roll over is that these waters and fishable conditions return quickly – along with the fish! Most all Charter and rec anglers are reporting marking good numbers of fish again, along with bait in the mid depth areas east and west of Point Breeze. And besides some regular routine Charter traffic, over-the-all fishing and boating pressure remains pretty light. The fish seem to be here, now its your job to get those bites to result in solid hook-ups!
Capt. Jeremy S. from JDs Custom Charters reports surface temps ranging from 47 – 55 F on west winds. “A lot of Kings around in the 15 lb. range in 75 – 150 fow both east and west of the Oak. Spin doctors and e-chip flashers with A Tom Mik trolling flies have been good. Mag spoons are getting hits and some are hit and run type that aren’t there when you get to the rod. So no coincidence there are big alewives in some of the fish stomachs. Wire dipsey divers have been out 100 – 150 ft. Lakers are also in good numbers east of the Oak down toward Bald Eagle Creek.”
CJO of Tightline Charters has been on a downrigger and slider spoon program in 120 – 160 fow east to the Devils Nose with salmon up to 18 lbs. He’s taking out some previous groups becoming reacquainted with the Oak after some years off. Good to see those returning anglers!
For rec and small craft anglers they are also back into the mid-depth trout and salmon action. Time to splash in and get that shake down trip underway to take advantage of mild to moderate temps, accessible fish and not a lot of fishing pressure. For the foot soldier crowd at the Point Breeze piers, upstream Oak, inland waters or the Erie Canal there is perch, bluegill, bass, sheepshead and pike action to be had.
