Fishermen return to Oak Orchard in quest to catch big salmon and trout

Photos by Tom Rivers

WATERPORT – An angler uses a net to help a friend bring in a Chinook salmon this morning at the Oak Orchard River.

The fish was caught by St. Mary’s Archers Club, which lets people park for $10 and gives them access to the river.

The club opens its gate at 5 a.m. every morning for about a month up until Veterans’ Day on Nov. 11. The Archers Club has coffee, doughnuts and bagels ready in the morning, and then serves hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch.

This man is happy to have landed a Chinook salmon. He released it back into the Oak Orchard.

Fishing is the county’s top tourism attraction, generating about $28 million in economic activity in Orleans, according to a report from the state DEC based on 2017 data.

There have been visiting anglers so far from Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, Virginia and Michigan. They make the trek for the chance to catch a big brown trout of Chinook salmon.

David Mangold of Cumberland, Maryland holds a small brown trout he caught. He let the fish go. He caught a Chinook salmon, too.

Mangold has been coming to the Oak Orchard the second week of October the past 10 years.

“It’s always a good time,” he said.

Howard Palmer, a member of the Archers Club, is up by 4 a.m. every day to go open the gate at the Archers Club, get the coffee pot brewing and to start a fire.

He has been on early morning duty the past five years or so and he said he’s never missed a day or been late.

Some of the fishermen are ready at 5. They like to claim their spot in the river. They can’t start fishing legally until a half hour before sunrise, or about 6:45 a.m.

Palmer, 80, said the Archers Club can accommodate about 80 parked vehicles. The fishermen like to be spread out. They say it’s not nearly as crowded or hectic as the salmon River up in Pulaski and Altmar.

“I’ve never met a bad fisherman,” Palmer said. “They’re interesting people.”

Tom O’Hearn, president of the Archers Club, cooks hot dogs and hamburgers today. He has a great view of the river from the grill.

O’Hearn has been the club’s president the past 10 years. The parking fees and revenue from breakfast and lunch help maintain the property. The Archers Club has upgraded the cooking area in recent years and extended the pavilion.

The anglers enjoy the great outdoors. It’s an ideal time to be out with colorful fall foliage and the changing of the seasons.