Oak Orchard Creek emanates from a wetland area and an innumerable amount of small streams. As it flows downstream, it is dammed at the village of Waterport. From the dam, the river flows through a steep, tree-lined canyon for a little less than two miles. It then opens into a more subtle landscape.

Although there are steep banks rising some 200 to 300 feet above the river in this area, there is ample flat land at the immediate river edge to walk from spot to spot with no trouble.

Oak Orchard Creek varies from about 75 feet in width at the base of the dam to roughly 250 feet where it pours into the estuary some two miles downstream.

The flow rate is dictated by the needs of the local power company, Niagara Mohawk. Unless there is an extremely heavy rainfall, the water level and clarity are fairly dependable in the prime fishing months of September through December.

During average water flow, most riffles will average one to three feet deep, with runs and pools measuring from three to six feet deep. Oak Orchard Creek is easy to wade. The bottom varies from golfball- to softball-sized gravel in most places, with a few larger rocks and a boulder or two mixed in.

The two miles of moving water from the dam downstream is all very good fly water. However, most prefer to fish what is referred to as the Archery Pool. This pool owes its name to the fact that an archery club owns a small piece of land and has a clubhouse on the north shore of the pool. Having fished Oak Orchard numerous times, I must admit that the Archery Pool is also my favorite place on the river, for a number of reasons.

While there are no fly-fishing-only areas on this short river, anglers that frequent Oak Orchard have drawn an unofficial line at the head of the Archery Pool. By and large, most anglers fishing above the head of the pool to the dam use spinning gear and those fishing below the head of the pool to the estuary use fly gear. This isn't to say that fly and spin anglers don't cross the line, it just seems to be the natural delineation.

Steelhead, shown above, love to eat salmon eggs as much as brown trout do, and are usually hooked in the very same places--right behind spawning salmon.

The Archery Pool has a deep cut, roughly six to eight feet at its head, with a fairly swift current that runs approximately 50 yards, and then flattens out to an average depth of three to five feet along the south shore. The run can be fished from either side, but as the pool widens out, the south shore has a very steep bank. This makes fishing from that side difficult at best. And because the browns, salmon, and steelies tend to lay along the south side, seeking protection in the shadowy, deeper water, angling from the north side is the most common approach.

For the next 300 yards downstream, the Archery Pool is wide, slow, easy water, with a gravel bottom--a prime spot for spawning salmon as well as hungry browns and fall-run steelies. If you enjoy sight-fishing, this is the place to be! On any given day in the fall, it is not uncommon to see hundreds of 20- to 35-pound Chinooks as well as dozens, if not hundreds of five- to 20-pound browns and 10- to 20-pound steelhead working their way up the river.