Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 10/14/2024 – 10/20/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report:
Fall is finally here! OK, it’s been autumn for nearly a month now, but it finally felt like it this past week. Frosty mornings, fall foliage, and big fish on the feed – all is well, my friends. This is the beginning of the insanity, and I’m ready for it – are you? 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, lake trout
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, drifting bait, jigging bucktails, swimbaits, and blade baits, casting crank baits, beads
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
10/14/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara and Lake Erie with Ethan and Marin from New Hampshire. In short – I should’ve cancelled this trip. However, 2 days prior when Ethan and I reviewed the forecast, it looked manageable – winds in the teens out of the north. Well, that’s not what ended up happening. We ended up with winds in the upper teens/low 20s out of the NW. Lake Erie was huge, and our drift speed was high – small craft advisory conditions. We caught fish, but very few.
It was a tough call for me – the Warrior can handle some wild conditions, and she handled very well on this day. Still, we were flying and rolling out there. Regretfully, I made the wrong call. 
10/15/2024 – Day 1 of the Fritz, Mike, and Tom trip – fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY for smallmouth bass. If you’ve been reading my reports for a few years now, you’ll recognize these guys. They come up a couple of times of year for 3 days to target smallmouth bass and always do well.
On this day, we still had a big NW blowing. It wasn’t huge out there, but it was big. We got into a few fish right away and I was optimistic that it was going to be an awesome day. There were many around, but the bite got to be a grind after the first hour. Eventually, I lost my patience, and we left fish to try to find more – that was a mistake.
Getting around Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara in a NW wind is a messy endeavor. It ended up not being worth it on this day. Not much happened in the other spots I checked out. 
10/16/2024 – Day 2 of the Fritz, Mike, and Tom trip – Fished the Lower Niagara and Lake Ontario bar for smallmouth bass. BIG NW winds continued to blow, and nobody was interested in braving another session on Lake Erie in those conditions. So, we decided to tuck away in some spots on the lower. The river didn’t produce much – we had to change it up.
Big NW winds send huge rolling waves across the bar into the shoreline. I was confident that if we endured these waves, we’d do well. So, we tightened our hoods and went for it. Numbers weren’t high, but the quality was outstanding. 
10/17/2024 – Day 3 of the Fritz, Mike, and Tom trip – Fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY for smallmouth bass. It was glassy out there, and there was boat traffic. However, we got into fish right away. We had some slow periods, especially when the breeze completely died off. Swim baits produced a few when it was dead calm. But when a light breeze kicked up, action was consistent. All but a couple of the fish were over 5lbs – and there were many of that caliber. Awesome day!
10/19/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara with Liam Kennedy of Kennedy Auto Care (Kennedy Auto Care – Mobile Car and Boat Detailing Services | Expert Care On-The-Go). Liam details my boat a few times per year and does an incredible job. He’s also an avid angler. We spent the front part of the day fishing the river and Lake Ontario bar for smallmouth – and we got into them.
I mentioned to Liam that there was a chance we could catch a lake trout as there are a few in the system already. Having never caught one, he was all about it. He closed the deal on the 4th drift.
10/19/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for smallmouth out of Buffalo, NY with Dave and Terry (up from PA). The bite started off very promising…then over 20 Canadian boats descended on our location. I guess they had a tournament going on and apparently our side of the border is the only place they can catch fish. The rest of the day ended up being a grind. Oh yeah, there was a cigar run around Grand Island, a few of us captains had some close encounters with those giant speed boats. Still, I always enjoy my time on the water with these guys – I’ve been fishing with them for 6 years now.
10/20/2024 – Day 1 of the Mike and Sean trip. We fished Lake Erie for smallmouth bass out of Buffalo, NY. It was big to start out there – consistent 1-3’ waves – Warrior water. When we got to the first zone, lines were wet maybe 3 minutes and the guys doubled up with some solid sized fish. After that, it was mostly small fish. Considering that Canadian tournament from the day prior pulled close to 100 fish out of this area, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Still, we had consistent action (albeit small fish) – until it got bigger, and seasickness became a factor. The wind ended up being far bigger than forecasted so it was getting to be time to execute plan B anyway. That was the upper Niagara. It fished poorly. We licked our wounds at District 37 on the Erie Canal before driving back to the harbor. Yeah, wild day – more of an adventure. 
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
I’m not going to get deep here folks. It was another 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:
- Water temperatures flowing out of Lake Erie are 61 degrees (Lake Temperatures). That’s in line with historical norms. However, it just got there earlier this week. That’s different from years past when we normally start off October with temps in this range.
- There were days when the action was fire and days when it was a grind. Typical of this time of year, when the weather is good, there are a lot of anglers on the water. So, it’s difficult to determine a pattern with all the crowds around. I’ll say this much – the bass are still on structure and highly concentrated.
- Now that everyone knows the lake trout have started entering the system in good numbers, the Lower Niagara will be a zoo for at least the next month. There was a time when Lake Erie perch, bass, and walleye fishing would be a respite from lower Niagara crowds. However, the increase in pressure from the other side of the border has ruined those prospects too. Bottom line – fishing is starting to get good – many folks know it – and it’s getting crowded out there.
- I didn’t spend any time targeting walleye this past week. However, I saw many around while bass fishing. Same goes for perch.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 10/21/2024 – 10/27/2024
Forecast Commentary
The forecast for this upcoming week looks chaotic. Increasing SW winds and warm temperatures will start things off. Lake Erie will be tough to access on Monday and Tuesday if the forecast holds. Beyond that, NW winds will bring the cold and messiness back for a couple of days. The weekend looks like it’ll be good.
I’m booked every day but there’s a chance some rescheduling will occur due to weather. The plan will be to target smallmouth bass as often as possible with some trout action in the mix. Also, a couple of days opened toward the end of the month so if you waited until the last minute to book a trip, I might have a day that’ll work for you. Give me a call!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan