NY trip coming up

I have plans to purchase a NY license in Oct. as well and will be fishing oak orchard as well. I have heard some of the same concerns as you have heard and if that be the case after my first fishing experience there I will not be returning again. Its not my cup-o-tea. I dont fish the project waters at walnut either for that reason. 

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hopeistheA help

I've fished oak orchards a couple times and the salmon river many times.  If you have time, check out sandy creek which is really close to oak orchards.  It's a smaller stream and gets excellent runs of large brown trout with way less pressure than the salmon rivers.  I'm not sure how good it will be for browns in the middle of Oct because they usually come in a little later after the salmon, but definitely worth checking out.

As far as salmon go if you want to catch them legally I would recommend trying close to the lake and catching some fresh fish entering the river.  By the time they get upstream for any period of time, they go down hill quick, start turning black, and are quickly on their death bed rotting away with lock jaw. 

You probably won't find salmon spread out between large pools as much as you will steelhead, unless they are on the move.  This tends to promote everyone congregating close together around the major pools and partaking in the drunken snag fest that you mentioned.  Unfortunately it can get worse than Walnut on a Saturday with perfect water conditions.  Let us know how the trip goes and what your experience was like when you get back.  You're definitely going to be up there at the right time.   

thanks fellas , ill definatly let ya know how it goes .i plan on doin some exploring while im there , hopefully the middle of the week will prove to be some quality time . I thought ahead enough to take my own truck, so worst case scenario ill drive west .

By the way most of the snaggers are "fly fishermen" lifting and lining the $hit out of big ugly Kings. Bunch of losers.

-Tim

My advice would be to stay away from the dam on the Oak. That, in my experience, is where the "drunken snag-festers" seem to congregate. It's usually not quite as bad downsteam although it can still be like a typical Elk Creek pool near a parking area-like crowd. Depending on the weather mid October could be a little early for good runs of fish, although there should certainly be some salmon in. You should definitely check with the local shops(Orleans Outdoors?) for the latest fishing reports. It would certainly help if you are willing to move around to other rivers. The Salmon should have some good fishing around then if you are willing to drive that far. Good luck and tight lines!

Erie is a joke, just sayin'....

Ill take Lake O over the farse that has become ANY Pa. water.

Most of the snagging is at the oak.....Witch we did for years....Now we do burt dam and 80% of the fish are in the mouth....10' salmon,steelhead rod's 10# P line and large sucker spawn....Just don't be shy.. fish your way and you will do fine....The main thing is have fun!!!!!

at least NY has fish that can hurt me
i like that

Wow you better stick to the kiddie pool making a comment like that!  lol  Once the NY fish stop hurting you, then you'll be ready to graduate to the big boy pool. 

I'll be at the Douglaston Salmon Run property October 7 and 8....It's a really nice piece of water and the $45 keeps most of the riff-raff out....The non-paying public areas are mostly good for laughs....Last year, at the trestle hole, I swear they were gonna rebuild the german wall as all hell broke lose with the two sides of the stream screaming at each other in Russian for an hour.

The Salmon is clogged with cohos right now. I'm going.

I was getting broke off using 12 lb tippet and even 15 lb....then went to 20 lb ...fair hooked a nice king in the 25 lb class in the DSR above the glide in the little black hole....it was a rather lengthy battle as I only had a 7 weight 11 foot fly rod....