Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 09/09/2024 – 09/15/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: Just when we thought fall might appear, summer came back. It was a wonderful week of weather – stable conditions throughout the week after Monday with little to no wind. I was able to take full advantage and managed to fish all 7 days. Bass and walleye were the targets with a little diversion for brown trout. All said, I fished the entire system from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and the Niagara in between. Awesome week! 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, brown trout
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, trolling spoons, drifting bait, jigging bucktails and blade baits
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
9/9/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara for bass with Owen, Archer, and Chris. Big SW winds had the current moving fast. We had a great time, but the bite was a grind. Still, I love seeing young anglers bend a rod – it’s endlessly entertaining. And yes…that’s a captain’s hat Archer is wearing. I’d expect nothing less lol. 
9/10/2024 – Fished Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara with new clients, Tony and Ryan. It was glassy out there, so we had to pull baits around. We got into them, but it was picky. We even poked around the upper for a bit to change the scene up and got a few there too. However, weeds were problematic so we didn’t stay long. 
9/11/2024 – Fished Lake Ontario for browns with Steve. Another picky bite, but we managed to do OK. After fishing out there for a few hours, we pushed into the river and drifted for smallies. We got a few, but it was slow. 
9/12/2024 – Had a last-minute cancellation so I called the whisperer to see if he was interested in doing a walleye recon trip. Of course he was. The “walleye express” launched from Sturgeon Point and we commenced to poke around structure looking for eyes. We picked up a only couple after hours of searching. Then, we found a huge stack of them and stayed on them until we got our limit. Never give up! No photos taken – all were good eating sized fish.
9/13/2024 – Day 1 of the Eric, Rich, and Steve trip. We fished the Lower Niagara and the Lake Ontario bar for smallies. The river was slow, but the bar was on fire. We boated ridiculous numbers of fish and Rich managed to get a giant (over 6lbs)! 
9/14/2024 – Day 2 of the Eric, Rich, and Steve trip. We fished Lake Erie for walleyes and smallmouth our of Buffalo, NY. The weather was gorgeous and there were 2 bass tournaments going on. In other words, it was a zoo out there. Still, we managed to get into plenty of walleyes. After getting surrounded by boats and the walleye bite slowed down, we picked away at the periphery of the tournament anglers for smallmouth bass. 
9/15/2024 – Day 3 of the Eric, Rich, and Steve trip. On their final day, after having a blast bottom bouncing the day prior for walleyes, the guys wanted to try it again. The bite was excellent for the first few hours of daylight…then it waned. Just in time for them to hit the road back to PA around noon. It was an awesome 3 days with these guys – laughs all around. Good times! 
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
Gotta be lazy this week folks – lots of fishing in the heat has my creativity at a minimum. Hopefully the play-by-play above whet your appetite. Plus, I’ve got some packing to do.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 09/16/2024 – 09/22/2024
Forecast Commentary
I can’t believe it folks, but if the forecast holds, we’re going to have another excellent week for fishing around the Buffalo Niagara Region. 2 weeks in a row…in September? Whatever, I’ll take it.
I’ll fish Monday, but after that, I’m off on another adventure and won’t be back until Sunday. It’s the last fishing vacation of the year for me and it’s going to be amazing.
A trip report will follow but if all goes well, I’ll catch fish in a new part of a state that I’ve already chalked. I’ll follow that up with a drive to a state that I haven’t chalked yet to try to make that happen. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Stay tuned!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan