Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge

The first legit cool down this past Mon night with temps in the 40’s F. Thru the past weekend the foot soldiers on the piers continued to pick off a few salmon and browns. Mon eve I saw some Kings boiling at the Oak Orchard rivermouth and not surprisingly guys hooked up on a few. Tue AM casters had slower action but it was reported that a couple fish were hooked later in the morning. So far no great concentrations of staged fish that we know of like at the Bridges or Wate...rport dam. No good intel yet from the smaller area trib estuary or rivermouth areas. There’s been recent NE or E winds on the big Lake O and that may have made for too cold and clear near shore water that scattered fish. Some steady W or NW winds that would make some stained water could bring in some off shore fish. We’ll have to wait and see if there’s going to be any concentrated staging fish recent year’s previous action has been challenging for that. Hopefully things are just starting off slow from the hot and dry summer. And 2+ weeks of super low Oak flows that are now on the rebound with the normal Erie Canal supplemental feed resuming should help. See more

Due to the Covid19 pandemic the fly fishing contest has been cancelled for 2020. Also parking and food have been suspended until the Archers Club can operate in a safe manner. The water at the Archers Club can only be accessed from the NYSDEC access at the end of the Park Ave Extension on the east side of the Oak Orchard River or from the NYSDEC parking lot at the Waterport dam. What this means is that anglers can still fish any of the same water we’ve always fished now... access is a little different. Before the great hospitality of the Archers Club started some years ago, this is the way it used to be anyway. So yes its a little more inconvenient but it might also lead to lessening the burden of fishing pressure on the Oak Orchard River. Anglers can still casually use only the immediate Archers Club banks, but will not be allowed to use the pavilions, use the driveways or have any other access whatsoever on the property, etc So this means you can sit on the bank, land a fish, put some gear on the bank or use the immediate bank in a manner to move upstream and downstream that is precluded by wading conditions. Of course any relevant social distancing requirements in place in NYS at the time you are fishing will be expected to be followed. Please lets show the Archers Club the private property rights they require during these challenging times so that we can continue to fish and enjoy the water. When we respectfully use the privilege to fish their water we can demonstrate that when current events become more normal in the fishing seasons ahead we might resume whatever activities the Archers Club might allow. All plans subject to change. Check back on the website for any changes.

Check out the exciting proposed regulation changes to help enhance the Lake Ontario and tributary fishery. Your consideration for support is appreciated by following the above link for the comment period open until Dec 14. In the face of multiple challenges like stocking, budgets, weather change, forage base, fishing pressure, etc NYSDEC has proposed the reg changes in an effort to conserve the World Class fishery. Consider that if this past fall trib salmon returns are ...something like what it will be like with continued salmon stocking reductions then for sure greater brown trout and steelhead creel protections will be necessary to maintain good tributary fishing opportunities. Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge supports the proposed reg changes that were promulgated thru various input and considerations like the Lake Ontario Fishery Management Focus Group (comprised of both Tributary and Lake interests). Brown trout creel protections are long overdue to help preserve good later in the season and low water action against initial over harvest. The steelhead regs seek to enhance the tributary experience while providing a solid King salmon fishery in the open Lake. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/115977.html See more

Volunteers needed for something like 3 -4 week Apr time frame for feeding and cleaning and support for steelhead pen rearing. Steelhead along with salmon have been pen reared at the Oak since the inception of pen rearing efforts and Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge has always been a supporter of both steelhead and salmon pen rearing efforts. Historically its been a challenge for steelhead help given the large portion of out of the area anglers who are the primary trib anglers. W...e do know some trib and lake enthusiasts have all along quietly given support or help for steelhead. Last year steelhead were not reared at the Oak, the steelhead were direct stocked. Pen reared fish always have greater survivability over direct stocked fish and hopefully better imprinting. NYSDEC oversees pen rearing efforts and a large part of the financial burden for supplies. This year 2 brand new pens have been assembled by Spencerport BOCES students. Many thanks to past volunteers, NYSDEC and students for the help. This year a good many Rochester Seth Green chapter TU volunteers have stepped up and we are looking for additional help. Please indicate your willingness to help in the workload in any capacity by contacting the shop. If you’d like to help out for salmon pen rearing efforts we can direct you for that too. Oak Orchard Tackle & Lodge supports pen rearing and any efforts for the betterment of the Oak Orchard trib/Lake Ontario open lake fishery collectively and believes conservation minded and bipartisan anglers in collaboration with NYSDEC should cooperate for continued World Class trout and salmon fishing opportunities. See more