Feels like we are moving into the “second” season on the Oak and nearby tribs. Most of the the major salmon action is behind us which leaves most guys in serious pursuit of browns, steelhead and Atlantics. As the calendar approaches this mid and end of November, and holidays approach, and big game seasons open, and the weather cools down, its fairly typical that fishing pressure becomes more manageable. I’m seeing guys spread through the Oak and in most cases with enough elbow room to move around and try some different drift spots, especially in the later parts of a day.
Flows in the Oak are hanging in at nearly slightly high from Canal feed so there is good flows to encourage fish migrations – and recent upticks in steelhead action could be evidence of that. It's a fair to good steady pick on brown trout for guys putting in enough time in a day with good dead drifts of egg patterns or beads, with some swinging streamer action thrown in too. Check out the female brown in the pic below, a good typical Oak fish.
For the other area smaller waterways, it looks like flows to the west at Johnson are recently lowering while there’s another uptick in flows to the east at Sandy. Good time to hit the better flows and we are hearing of decent action once again there at Sandy. Remember that is a long watercourse compared to most other area tribs, so the fish could be anywhere along the length of the trib or moving steadily up now that Canal feed is likely raising flows once again.
The weather is still seasonably warm so the fishing conditions remain real agreeable. Forecast is for a fishy gloom something like over the next week with chance of measurable precipitation by the end of week with slightly lower temps. No lake effect snow is expected here on the WNY Lake Ontario south shore and the precipitation for this mid week may only be showers at best.
Some cool, crisp weather now for this mid week period that feels a lot like fall fishing weather. There was some precipitation yesterday but not enough to change trib levels. Chance of a warm up for the upcoming weekend. And the season and calendar for the Oak is shifting some toward the mixed bag chances for browns, Atlantics, steelhead and cohos. Check out the Atlantic and steelhead pics below from the Oak. Some green Kings are still in the mix but some fish showing signs of wear.
Fishing pressure seems manageable so far this week after a busy prior weekend. Flows in the Oak are about medium, just a touch of stain with at least thru yesterday a little bit of overflow water. Not sure why turbine flows haven’t cranked up more to handle the high pond levels upstream, but likely soon the medium turbine flows should “catch up” and diminish the overflow water to the routine sluice gate flow. Water level fluctuations should be less common, but not gone away completely, since major leaf fall is behind us.
Most dead drift anglers on the Oak can expect multiple hook ups in close to a days effort. Moving around a bit for different drifts and different fish can lead to action. If you're planted in one spot, you are at the mercy of those fish turning on and off for you or new fish migrations.
More female browns are showing up now too (some loose) and just recently both downstream and upstream there were more steelhead reported. Everyday, Atlantics are reported too. Reports of a few Atlantics, at or better then the 30 inch mark. The other area smaller waterways, like Sandy, are lower and clearer and fishing pressure can have an impact. Low and clear flows will lead to less overall fish movement.
To the west at Johnson Creek flows are a little better at moderate and mostly clear – anglers with some consistency have reported decent action there. Parking at the Archers Club has ended for the year, yet anglers can still fish any of the adjacent water to the Archers by accessing from the Park Ave Fishing Trail just downstream and wading up or working your way downstream from the parking at the Waterport dam.
A reminder of the PFD requirement while on the Brookfield property below the cable on the turbine channel and below the exclusion cable on the overflow side.
More unseasonably warm if not hot weather in the forecast today and tomorrow. Temps around 80°F today! Chance of only showers around mid week and then a bit of a cool down. The up and down and more warm, then cool weather sure is making predicting fishing conditions challenging, but that seems to be the prevailing weather patterns lately. I guess you have to fish when you can and take the weather as it comes! If a mild weather season prevails think of all the comfy trib fishing chances there may be this later fall and then winter.
For now fishing pressure is not that bad like on the Oak – guys are spread out away from the popular spots like the Archers and dam. The other smaller waterways may be a little more crowded relative to the size of the waterways.
Most of the angling effort has shifted away from Kings, although some green fish are still in the mix. I suspect smaller numbers of fish will continue to trickle into the Oak thru November. Brown trout action has been coming on, but the latest warm spell may be making for a tougher bite just lately in the Oak. Anglers report seeing a fair number of browns, even if they are not willing biters all the time.
Guys are also hooking up on Atlantics and a steelhead here and there. Perhaps if we had a more consistent cool down we’d see more steelhead migrations.
Flows are lowering slightly to about moderate – medium and there are lots of leaves in the water. There is some overflow water and given that existing flow pattern, there are likely both trout and salmon that have migrated up that channel.
Flows in Johnson Creek are recently bumped up (most likely from Canal feed) and I wonder if some Oak feed has been rerouted to Johnson? We await some clarification from hydro managers about the existing flow patterns. With the decent flow in Johnson, look for good brown trout action there. To the east at Sandy, flows are about moderate with reports of good action with a fair amount of anglers. Check out the small trib, big brown trout that Shane caught in the pic below. Big browns like that are what the area can offer fly or spin or float anglers.
