Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 09/30/2024 – 10/06/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report:
It was a busy week! I spent most of my time targeting walleyes, but I took a couple of shots at kings too. The bite has come in fits and furies. When it’s good, it’s been REALLY good. However, there have been a couple of very slow days in the mix. Stability seems to be the key to the best action lately. More to come on that later. Also, we finally got a small taste of the fall chill – it dropped into the upper 40s a couple of days ago. However, today, it was 82 degrees. Yeah, stability has been fleeting. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 7
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Lower Niagara, Lake Ontario
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye, freshwater drum
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, drifting bait, jigging bucktails, swimbaits, and blade baits
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
9/30/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY for walleyes with Jack, Kurt, and Ron. It was a tough bite for most of the morning, but we had a little rally toward the end of the day. Ron picked up a nice one. 
10/01/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY with the whisperer. It was a glassy day, so we took advantage of the calm water to poke around some new areas. We found very little for the first few hours. Frustrated, we decided to look at an area that’s produced for us in the past. It was holding many – so we proceeded to catch our fill. No photos taken.
10/02/2024 – Day 1 of the Joe, Ken, and Stu trip. We fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY for walleyes. A stiff NW made things messy for most of the day. The bite was very slow. However, the wind died around mid-day and we had a rally (maybe a trend – see comments on 9/30/24). Ken caught this nice one. 
10/03/2024 – Day 2 of the Joe, Ken, and Stu trip. We fished the Lower Niagara for kings, walleye, and bass. The kings didn’t want to play, so after a couple hours of trying, we went down river and fished the usual haunts as well as the bar. All areas were slow, but we managed to land a few nice ones. 
10/04/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY. We started late – 9:00AM. It was another glassy day. We caught fish the whole session – there might have been a 20-minute lull at one point. It was awesome.
NOTE: the cleaning stating at the Buffalo Harbor State Park has hours now – M-F, 7:00AM – 3:00PM. That’s problematic, even if they stick to those hours (they didn’t even open it on Saturday). The whisperer is on the case – more to come in the next report. 
10/5/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes and bass out of Buffalo, NY with Jake, Liam, and Charlie. It was yet another glassy day. The morning started off VERY well, when we had some water to ourselves. There was a bass tournament that posed an obstacle to covering some water, but we made it work. After filling the box, we turned to jigging swimbaits. The bass and walleyes were game. Not as fast action as bottom bouncing, but we stayed entertained. 
10/06/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara with Charles and Mike. THe wind was far worse than forecasted. It was an absolute GRIND. However, Chuck and Mike were awesome to spend the day with, the conversation didn’t stop, despite the lack of action.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
I’m not going to get deep here folks. It was a long week with after work activities throughout. I hope I provided ample information in the play-by-play above. I’ll just add the following notes:
- Weirdly, my best days were when it was dead calm or just a slight breeze. Normally, the opposite is the case. The fish seem to be favoring stability…for now. That’s a small sample size but a trend for this past week. Also, early morning wasn’t necessary. The best bite started around 9:00AM.
- We had a couple of cold nights this past week and those nudged the water temperature down a couple of degrees. The heat from today will stabilize that drop – but drop it will in short order. This upcoming shock to the system will be interesting.
- I’ve never fished walleyes this late in the year. I’m not sure if it’s always this way this time of year, but if it is, I’m going to make it part of my annual program. You need to hunt for them and find big groups of active ones. This might take a while, especially if you want to avoid a crowd. However, when you find them, get ready to put in work.
- I haven’t focused much on smallmouth on Lake Erie or the Upper Niagara. I’ve poked around between walleye trips to little avail. However, the catch rates were high during that tournament on Saturday. I saw a lot of fish caught while we were catching walleyes around them. The best days are on the way.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 10/07/2024 – 10/13/2024
Forecast Commentary
It looks like the Buffalo Niagara Region will be hit with a solid dose of fall this upcoming week. North winds will make a near daily appearance as will temperatures in the 40s. Man, I’ve been waiting for this for SO LONG. However, it’ll be tough to get out on a couple of days if this forecast holds.
I cancelled my trip for Monday – big NWs are going to start early morning and blow all day. Lake Erie has consistent 3’ waves rolling from the west right now. When those NW winds hit, it’ll be a mess out there. A NW will also deny access to Lake O and much of the Lower Niagara. There will be options, but you’ve gotta be crafty.
The N winds will lay down a little going into Tuesday, so the plan is to fish Lake Erie for ‘eyes and bass. The same will be the case for Wednesday. After that, I depart for Virginia for my bro Brian’s wedding – I return on Sunday (no fishing report next week).
I’m happy to be going to his wedding. I’m doubly happy that it looks like I won’t be missing much. BIG north winds might return and bring some rain along with them. Day time highs might only be in the 50s. By the time I return, the water temps will likely have dropped a few degrees – making the following week insanely good (fingers crossed).
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan