Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge

10/03/2026

weekend Sat Oct 3...
For the end of the past week there was precip around 0.50 – 0.75 inch for the Niagara Frontier. Just south of here and extending east there is actually early stage drought reported. Not here tho! Flows in the area small tribs bumped up as a result and are now on the retreat at med levels and slightly stained. Flows in the Oak keep humming along between the rain and earlier upstream supplies at about slightly high. There’s some tannin stain to the water and diminished overflow water. At the dam the good King and decent brown trout action is still reported with med angler pressure. Thru the past week the pressure was not too bad at the dam or downstream. Now there are a few more guys out in the downstream fast water finding a few browns and not a lot of holding Kings. From the frogwater and downstream mid river guys are reporting crashing and boiling fish with small watercraft guys having success with plugs or floating skein. Further down toward lower river (Bridges) and rivermouth theres not been a lot of obvious boiling and crashing fish so those fish are choosing to stage farther up or are just stealthily moving thru. The action has been hit or miss for the casting crowd and small boat flotilla at the rivermouth. Otherwise flows in the Oak are enough to hide plenty of fish and drifts arent going to be super easy. Brown trout numbers this early on are encouraging and more fish should arrive and/or move back from the dam as Kings likewise drop back. I’d look for continued trickle movements of Kings from the Lake, altho there were reports of crashing and boiling fish at the Bridges this morning (thats more of whats expected). With this latest precip, bump up in flows and continued Canal feed the smaller area tribs should be coming on. Smallest waterways like Marsh are going to fish best right on the backside of any bump in flows. Try to be there. Reading of it here might mean its already happened!

10/01/2026

Thu Oct 1...
A real nice gloomy, fish moving kind of a day today. Warm tho. Chance of showers with better chance at rain later tonight. Nice cool fall temps expected for the weekend and esp begin next week. Seems a bit of a lull in angler traffic and action. Still continued consistent action at the dam tho and the reports of good numbers of browns too. That we know of at last check a day or so ago no obvious concentration of crashing fish in rivermouth or staging spots. That could change on any given day, like today. Or maybe salmon are steaming thru without crashing around much in any one spot? Boaters reports indicate good numbers of fish out around 90 fow and hopefully those are staged fish ready for a push up the Oak. A nice Canal feed continues in the smaller area tribs going on about a week now, so that could be a trigger for upstream movements of salmon and trout in those smaller waters. A little bump of cooler, stained flows from a precip event could help and be just whats needed for more earnest movements of fish in those smaller tribs.

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09/29/2026

09/29/2026

Tue Sep 29...
Looks like the area is returning to some prevailing winds and a nice stretch of early fall weather. All those N and NE winds of last week are going calm for now with likely a switch toward SW. Temps are forecast to moderate back into the 70’s F with just a chance of showers for Wed or Thu. Flows continue to drop slowly in the Oak to a nice fishable med or slightly high with a little color to the water. There is diminished overflow water. Flows in the other area tribs east at Sandy and west toward Johnson are in the mod to med range with what’s looking like a steady Canal water feed. Look for nice fishy, slightly stained flows encouraging some upstream movements of salmon and browns.

Fishing pressure looks like its backing off some for this mid week period after the initial excitement of the earlier Sep fish and flooding rains. Near shore big Lake temps have also moderated and hopefully that means any fish scattered from the recent past icy temps are easing back to their shallow water staging spots or committing back to upstream migrations. Over the past couple days guys have reported more boiling and crashing fish in downstream, estuary waters. The small craft and tin boat flotilla should find more hospitable and productive conditions once again. Likewise foot soldier casters on the O-dark thirty shift with glow hardware are into more action lately.

The nice salmon action at the dam continues with good numbers of browns reported too. A few more downstream, fast water fly, spin or drift anglers are plying waters below the dam and around the Archers Club area. Access for now still needs to be from the dam or the Park Ave Ext Fishing Trail. But once anglers are on the water form either of those spots bankside access and wading is available upstream and downstream. With the lowering, agreeable flows and any fish not on a kamikaze mission to get to the dam – the downstream fast water spawning areas should begin to hold more fish. Trib water temps will continue to drop as the calendar goes with more chances for steelhead, cohos and Atlantics ahead.

09/26/2026

weekend Sat Sep 26...
Flows in the Oak are still cranking pretty good, by fall standards anyway. Flows are slightly high with diminished overflow water. Water color is slightly stained with approx 2+ ft of viz. Look for continuing slowly dropping flows toward med with continued some stain to the water. Near term forecast ahead is still rain free, no impact expected for the area from the coastal nor ‘easter this weekend. Next chance at precip towrd the end of next week. Flows in the other area smaller waterways are on the low – mod side until and if when some Erie Canal water is dumped thru. Lately the best concentration of fish that we know of is at the dam while smaller pods of fish that may come and go populate the rest of the downstream water all the way to the mouth at Point Breeze. There’s pretty good number of browns right on the heels of the Kings at the dam. There ae some fish in the overflow side too and small and light presentations are prob needed there for best action. Eggs and beads and skein has been most effective at the dam. Some anglers are beginning to spread out downstream thru fast water areas. Some guys have remarked when flows have temp come down for hydro power operations it has revealed decent numbers of downstream fish already. When flows are up regularily its gonna be real hard to spot fish in broken water that arent moving. Pier and small craft action has been hampered some by all the N or NE winds this past week. Today there’s just a med N wind instead of whats at times been a pounding wind. Near shore waters are cold and no doubt that pushes some fish into the warmer Oak temps but may slide other fish farther offshore too that aren’t committed to migrations. Each day morning or evening or night there are downstream or rivermouth hookups but it hasnt been consistent yet. If and when we get some prevailing winds with any kind of W in them look for more salmon migrations as we end Sep and get into Oct – with likely more browns. There are confirmed reports of just a few Atlantics or cohos and even steelhead here and there. Other area smallere waterways may need a shot of water from precip or Canal feed to kick off something more consistent in those waterways.

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09/22/2026

Waterport dam access info...
For access at the dam in Waterport remember there are really two sites there. One is the NYSDEC parking lot. Access is limited there at the parking lot to 2 hours before sunrise. The second site is the Brookfield Power Co property at the dam on the water itself. Access is limited there at the dam to 1 hour before sunrise to 1 hour after sunset.

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09/22/2026

Tue Sep 22...
Now that the area is into a so far drying out period after lots of summer rains, flows all around are dropping back. Flows in the Oak are slightly high and slightly stained with diminished overflow water. With a forecast ahead that looks rain free look for flows to be dropping back toward medium – ish in the Oak and mod in the other area smaller waterways. Drifts in the Oak other then at the dam should be becoming more productive with lowering flows. Flows for now in Sandy and Johnson are approx med and mostly clear. Fishing pressure had perked up over the past weekend esp at the dam. For the weekday period now the fishing pressure is less and anglers are spread out from the dam, downstream and to the rivermouth and Lake. Drifting fly, spin or float anglers should be able to spread out ahead into the fast water areas below the dam like around the Archers and Park Ave fishing access. The weather feels real fishy with temps dropping back at night and highs during the day only expected into the 60’s F. Trib water temps are likewise dropping back. NE and E lakebreezes are forecast thru the end of the week and that means more cooling winds and cooling if not cold near shore waters. That could push more salmon and trout into the Oak and tribs or set up a cold water barrier some fish may not want to navigate for now in the early season. Winds are expected to make for small craft advisory on the Lake thru Wed. So far the action at the dam for Kings and some browns has been good, esp by Sep standards. Prob due to fishing pressure it was tougher toward the end of the past weekend. The action at the rivermouth piers and near shore Lake then picked up for the end of the past weekend. The small craft advisory for this mid week period could put a damper on that but lower river casters and float anglers getting out of the wind might fair well. Intel for the smaller area waterways and fast water areas on the Oak is so far thin. That doesn’t mean anglers aren’t quietly into action. And we know that upstream fish at the dam have had to come thru downstream areas first! Be there to drift your egg pattern, swing your fly, float your skein, cast your glo spoon – all effective!

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09/19/2026

weekend Sat Sep 19...
Its feeling pretty fishy around here, esp by Sept standards. There are pretty good numbers of Kings and some browns already at the dam on the Oak. These are prob fish from earlier runs of couple weeks ago flooded flows. Immediate migrations for right now may be kind of trickling along. But there is a nice gloom today, temps are cool and forecast to stay cool in the near term, and flows are still plenty high enough to draw fish into the Oak and other area smaller waterways. There is a fair amount of anglers at the dam in Waterport, more guys then you might expect for Sep. There are also fish in the overflow side of the Oak, and that was reasonably predictable given all the high water we’ve had. One good thing about the high water is that it likely moved out a lot of summer weeds and debris already. For now flows in the Oak are slightly high – high with diminshed overflow water. Flows in the other area smaller waterways are about med. Along with the forecasted coolish temps, there is the chance for showers this weekend but more then likely that will be south of the area. Chance again for precip thru mid next week. Along with the action at the dam, there are anglers working the water all the way down to the Rivermouth and still out in the Lake. The smaller tin boat flotilla of casters, drifters and jiggers are now out there in the Lake from the near-shore and out to 90+ fow. I’ve seen a few fish crashing around at the Bridges a few nights ago, and so far there’s not a lot of fishing pressure in those lower river spots. A few anglers have been swinging or running skein thru the frog water areas on the Oak and so far we haven’t heard of a ton of action there except for a few crashing fish. The frog water drifts are changeable because the big Lake levels are finally starting to noticeably drop. Upstream fast water areas like around the Archers Club doesn’t sound like it has a lot of holding fish, but there’s plenty of water cover to hide fish or make drifting not too easy. Immediately downstream of the dam when flows have come down for temporary maintenance anglers have remarked there’s a fair amount of fish there. Again – flows are high enough to hide fish and make the average drift not all that easy. Look for flows to slowly drop without any new significant precip, altho it looks like there’s a lot of upstream supply that rivals or is more then a typical spring.

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09/14/2026

Mon Sep 14...
Flows in the Oak are high with what looks like turbine flows at about max. There is still a strong push of overflow water too and there were 2 more passing thunderstorms yesterday. Look for flows to stay up and slightly stained at least in the near term. Flows in the other area smaller tribs are med – slightly high and slightly stained. There are fish numbers building at the dam with decent numbers of Kings and some browns. Downstream fast water areas are gonna be a heavy water harder to drift zone for now. There have been a few salmon hooked up at the piers at Point Breeze and that near shore and rivermouth action should get better and better depending upon weather and Lake conditions. Cooling nights and a nice laying down NW wind today should make for nice wave chop and water color. That wind direction can sometimes push fish into the channel. That we know of there are no heavy concentrations of stacked up fish like at the Bridges or Park Ave frog water just yet. But obviously fish are moving through because of the numbers of fish at the dam. Fishing pressure all around is easily manageable, and pressure is building at the dam. Anglers are reminded to act respectfully to other anglers and to the private property access like at Waterport or downstream leased lands. We all want to keep fishing these waters! The other area smaller waterways intel is thinner but more then likely due to higher flows there are some fish already upstream with more staging action to come. Shop should be open full time for the fall, winter, spring by this weekend. Wednesdays may be a day off for just Sep. Lodging dates are available, give us a call for a reservation while some dates are still open.

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09/05/2026

weekend Sat Sep 5...
Looks like a drying out period ahead but thru the past week there was a lot of rain. Flooding rains in some locales. The Oak has been blown. Lots and lots of overflow water. Other tribs blown too. Small and mid size tribs dropping about now thru the weekend but still high and stained. Lots of upstream water in the Oak so look for flows below the dam and overflow to remain up and dirty. Somewhat unknown how many salmon may have moved up the Oak. Some likely have, but hopefully in this early and warm water and overflow dominant flows not a whole bunch. Action in the Lake is moving closer to the pier heads, but most trollers are still out at 90+ fow of water or greater. A few guys have made some shallower trolling passes esp with all the Oak dirty water mixing in with the Lake. The nearer shore action will move closer as the weather and water temps cool. Hopefully not that many Kings or trout wind up in the overflow at this early point in the season.

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