Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 09/23/2024 – 09/29/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: Back at it folks! Janice and I returned from an awesome trip to Nebraska, Colorado, and New Mexico a week ago. Upon my return, I managed to fish 5 days this past week. To summarize what I saw on the water – things are in flux right now. Erratic wind directions, wild shifts in temperatures, and rain were the norm this past week. There wasn’t much of a pattern to speak of…other than structure seemed to hold the most fish. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 5
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Upper Niagara, Lower Niagara, Lake Ontario
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, drifting bait, jigging bucktails and blade baits
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
9/23/2024 – Took the day off to recover from vacation. We got in at around 2:00AM so I needed the rest.
9/24/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY with Terry, Henry Sr. and Henry Jr. from PA. We started the day fishing for walleyes. We found some big groups on structure and pulled bottom bouncers with harnesses through them until the group got their fill. After boxing a bunch of them, we converted to bass fishing. That was VERY SLOW – but we managed some bigs in the mix.
9/25/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara with Dave, Skylar, and Glenda as part of the Ralph C. Wilson Charity for Children fishing tournament. See here for details: Home – Ralph C. Wilson, Jr Foundation (ralphcwilsonjrfoundation.org). The wind was huge out of the SW and the current was raging. Still, we managed to put together a good bag…and we had a blast. So much fun with this crew.
9/26/2024 – Fished Day 2 of the tournament with Bill and Dave on the Lower Niagara. It was very slow. We caught fish but none worth taking a photo of.
9/27/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY with Cory and Jason up from PA. A big NE wind made things snotty out there, but we went for it anyway. We started off walleye fishing. Most of the fish moved off of those waypoints I had been fishing in the weeks prior, but we managed to find a handful of eaters. Around mid-morning, we converted to bass fishing. Unfortunately, that was very slow too. However, we did manage to boat a couple of giants.
9/28/2024 – Day off – had a last minute cancellation the morning of.
9/29/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY with Drew and his 8year old son, James, and James’ friend, Theo. It was abysmally slow. Not sure what happened. Fish were caught, but none photo worthy.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
Although I only fished 5 days this past week, I spend a lot of time talking with my colleagues about the general situation around the region. Here’s what we noticed.
Fishing Conditions in General
It was a tough week to get a real sense of what’s going on. We had huge wind early on that kept everyone off Erie until Thursday. Then, huge E and N winds showed up that kept everyone off Lake Ontario and the mouths of the tribs. In other words, it’s tough to say what’s going on until we get some sort of stability or consistency.
Water temperatures are still hovering around 71 degrees. That’s very warm for this time of year, but not record breaking.
Walleye
Deep water (90-100’) out of the Catt and Barcelona is still producing limits. Anglers preferring the shallow water/bottom bouncing bite can still get limits too – so long as you have plenty of way points to check out. That’s what I’ve been up to lately, but those fish shut down a little bit as of late with the shift in wind direction. Don’t let that discourage you though – they’re still around. Keep crossing them and you’ll come home with a decent bag regardless.
Smallmouth Bass
I don’t know what’s going on with the smalljaws. Catch rates are low lately and without the drum around anymore, there have been some slow action days in general. I’m still picking up some big, healthy fish on structure, but not many. I’ve had a good sonar picture in all my fall haunts, but little interest in consuming a fresh, tasty meal. That’s a bit bewildering. Crawfish, minnows, bucktails, and blade baits have all worked.
My hypothesis is that the water is still a bit too warm for them to get frenzied – it’s only dropped 1 degree since the beginning of the month. What I can say is that there are plenty of fish around – they just need a trigger to go nuts. The days are getting shorter quickly, it’ll get cold whether we want it to or not. I for one, am looking forward to that drop in temps.
Salmon/Trout
Some salmon are making their way up the tributaries of late. As of this weekend, following all the north and east winds, a decent number of fish have pushed into the tributaries. A couple of my colleagues caught a few on the Niagara yesterday and today.
There are many staging fish by the break walls at the entrance of 18-mile (Olcott) and the Oak Orchard. I know some shore anglers that have caught a few fishing these spots at night with glow spoons. However, the tribs are so warm that a big push of fish is still a week or so out. Fishing those stagers by the walls seems like the best option. That’s nearly impossible to do from a boat in big N and E winds – which is what we’ve had the past 4 days.
That brown trout bite we had going all summer up til a couple weeks ago has become spotty at best. A few guys have made attempts lately and came up with not very much.
Summary
Sometimes we go through tough periods in angling. By tough I mean low catch rates. However, we’re spoiled here compared to nearly everywhere I’ve been. I mean, who can say that it was a tough day when you land a brace of walleyes and a handful of bass – a couple of which were over 5lbs? Well, we can. Fortunately, those tough periods never last long around here. The only thing you can do is fish though them and put yourself in position for when the slump ends.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 09/30/2024 – 10/06/2024
Forecast Commentary
The forecast for this upcoming week looks chaotic. Wind from 3 directions, rain, and what looks like our first, consistent dip into fall temperatures. As I mentioned above, this is what we need – cooler air to bring down the warm water temperatures. I’m optimistic this will have a stimulating effect.
I’ll be on the water daily and my goal is to cover the entire fishery from the Catt to Lake Ontario. Walleyes, kings, and smallmouth will be the targets. I’m bullish on my prospects of numbers and size of fish. I’ll find out soon enough…stay tuned!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan