Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 07/15/2024 – 07/21/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: I fished all 7 days and covered the entire system this past week. The awesome walleye bite (except out of Buffalo). The king salmon bite is also still crazy. Smallmouth bass are getting bigger by the day. What a fishery we have here in the Buffalo Niagara Region! You know what’s wild? It’s only going to get better in the upcoming weeks. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 7
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Upper Niagara, Lower Niagara, Lake Ontario
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye, freshwater drum, king salmon, brown trout
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, drifting bait, trolling spoons.
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
07/15/2024 – Fished Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara with Nate, Bob, and Wesley. Wesley (8 years old) caught the biggest and most and endured some big waves. Good times!
07/16/2024 – Fished Lake Ontario with clan Stevens. The evening prior the forecast was looking grim – scattered thunderstorms and big winds. When I talked to Shawn, he explained to me that he’s a Navy veteran, one of his sons is about to join the Coast Guard, and the other son is hard corps. Bottom line, they were down to endure some rough stuff. I’m happy we went out. What a day! After catching some giants on Lake O, we moved to the Lower Niagara and caught a bunch of small bass. 
07/17/2024 – Spent the day with my long time friend/client Matt. We put in some work on the Upper Niagara. We found them. 
07/18/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Barcelona, NY for walleyes with Keith and Missy. Both were in town to fish for a couple days and wanted to leave with some meat. We got our limit in a few hours and converted to jigging. We picked up some monster drum on bucktails. 
07/19/2024 – Day 2 of Keith and Missy’s trip. We tried for kings out of Fort Niagara. We hooked a few, but the grass out there was THICK and often covering our lines. We opted to go for consistent action so we moved to Lake Erie and caught drum and bass. 
07/20/2024 – Fished Lake Erie with Calvin, Killian, and Steve. There was a competition – fist fish, biggest fish, and most fish. Killian (the 8 year old), got the first one and lead the way with the biggest and most for most of the day. Then, in the last 30 mins, Steve went on a run and ended up catching the most. This 8-year-old is a head of his years. I’m looking forward to watching him get better and better. 
07/21/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Barcelona, NY for walleyes with Stan, Chris, and Rob. We got our limit before noon – a little slower than I expected – not sure why. Lots of good “eater sized” fish – nothing photo worthy.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
As of this writing, I’ve been fishing every day for 10 days. It’s been awesome but I’m not going to sugar coat it, intellectual brilliance is lacking. So, I’ll get straight to the point.
Walleyes
By this point, I’m sure all walleye anglers are aware that there aren’t many fish near Buffalo, NY. On Wednesday, I checked out the line in over 55’, by Meyers Reef, and near Seneca Shoal. Throughout this search, I marked a few fish here and there, but nothing worth setting up a spread.
As I mentioned in my notes above, I fished out of Buffalo for bass on Friday and Saturday. While loading my boat at the dock, I spoke with a couple of gentlemen who just came in from fishing walleyes. 1s and 2s were all they picked up. I’m not sure what happened this year, but Buffalo ain’t the place to get limits of walleyes right now. I’ve heard some folks claim that the water is too warm, but that can’t be it. The water is well within the historical mean (Lake Erie July Temperatures Buffalo (weather.gov)).
On a brighter note, the Catt, Dunkirk, and Barcelona have all been reliable for limits. Some days are better than others, but if you don’t get a limit in a few hours, something is wrong. Go deeper or shallower. Some days, I do very well in the mid-50’ range. Other days, fishing in the 70s and 80s have been more productive. Bottom line, if you’re not getting bit, change your depth and you’ll find them.
Smallmouth Bass
I haven’t been getting giants lately. However, I have been picking up some nice fish averaging around 4lbs. As per usual, areas where sand turns to rock have been very productive. And yes, the drum are still around and very active.
Crawfish have consistently out produced minnows. Most of the fish are either throwing up crabs or pooping out rusty stuff with the occasional claw. Bring dinner to the table folks and you’ll catch them.
King Salmon
It’s crazy, but they’re still in shallow water. I can’t explain why they’ve been so prevalent lately, but I’ll take it. Although I’ve been mostly focused on walleyes, Lake Ontario is a welcome reprieve from those days where there’s been a big S or W variant wind.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 07/22/2024 – 07/28/2024
Forecast Commentary
This forecast for this upcoming week looks excellent. Once again, every day will be fishable and I’ll be taking advantage of it.
After a quick glance at the docket, it looks like it’ll be an even split between bass and walleye trips. I’m going to spend some time on the Upper Niagara and Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY for the smalljaws. The Catt will be the launch for the walleye trips.
It’s going to be a great week. I’m looking forward to seeing some of you out there!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan