Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 04/14/2025 – 04/20/2025
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: Happy Easter, folks! Ice flows dominated the angling community’s thoughts—and nightmares—this past week here in the Buffalo Niagara Region. After Tuesday, heavy ice flows rendered the river unfishable. Ice clogged the river so severely that icebreaker ships logged serious hours clearing it from the intakes. Miraculously, almost all that chaos cleared out of the river by Thursday afternoon. I’m hopeful this is the last time I’ll mention the “i” word this season—there isn’t much left. With the river out of play for much of the week, I fished Lake Ontario heavily. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 4
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Ontario, Lower Niagara
What we caught: lake trout, brown trout
Tactics: trolling spoons; 3-way rigs with minnows
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
04/14/2025 – The Great Humbling
“Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you,” Sam Elliott drawls in The Big Lebowski. That line from one of my favorite movies echoes in my head when I’m bombing spectacularly. On this day, fishing Lake Ontario out of Olcott, NY, with Matt, Jim, and Ryan, I muttered it to myself just two hours in.
I don’t know why I failed. Conditions were prime for a hot bite. Other captains in the same area, using the same tackle, were doing fairly well while I floundered. I tweaked speeds, switched directions, swapped spoon sizes and colors—nothing worked. Whatever I was doing wrong, I couldn’t crack it.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: sometimes—rarely—I fail. Trolling missions are the worst for it. The clients aren’t casting, feeling the bottom, or working the line. They’re just waiting. No matter how stunning the scenery or lively the conversation, after hours of nothing, that wait burrows into your head like a worm from The Beastmaster – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXWPSiplGRU. That’s a throwback to my generation—if you’ve seen the movie, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That YouTube clip does some justice.
Although I hate getting humbled, it’s an unfortunate part of the business. It strenghtens my mind and brings me back to center, especially if I’m feeling really confident about things. High highs and low lows – the emotional roller coaster of fishing.
04/15/2025 – Ice Flows – Rescheduled the trip
With big SW winds and the potential for another “ice flow day,” I rescheduled my trip. I’m glad I did. By the end of the day, both the upper and lower Niagara were bank to bank with ice.
04/16/2025 – More Ice
Bank to bank ice plagued the system for yet another day. Rescheduled my trip.
04/17/2025 – 2 Angles on Angling from the Water
I had a last-minute cancellation, so the day was open. The river was still loaded with ice, but it was a perfect day – no wind and sunny – so I called Jordan to see if he was down for a Lake Ontario session. He ditched work and we made it happen. The lake trout bite was on fire. Action was consistent all day. Here are a few pics. 
04/18/2025 – Another Humbling
I don’t know why I tanked. Conditions were prime for a hot bite. Other captains in the same area, using the same tackle, were crushing it while I floundered. I fished the same spots Jordan and I hit the day before, running identical spoons at the same speeds—nothing. Frustration crept in, so I switched up speeds, directions, spoon sizes, and colors. Still nothing. It got in my head, and I couldn’t shake it.
By mid-trip, I was so frustrated I could barely keep it to myself. Instead of grinding it out, I called it early. Big mistake. My colleagues will tell you I’m the least patient captain they know—not a knock, just my run-and-gun reputation. I’ve gotten better at taming the urge to switch things up, but when trolling is slow, it still drives me nuts. That day, I lost it.
Had I stuck it out, things might’ve turned around. Other captains who endured the long lull were rewarded with bites later. It seems the fish were feeding in narrow windows throughout the day. I missed one—and didn’t stay long enough to catch the others. Thankfully, it didn’t bother the wonderful couple I fished with. In fact, they vowed to return for revenge.
04/19/2025 – Back to Being on Top of the World
Fished Lake Ontario out of Lewiston, NY with Greg and Tanner. I talked with Greg throughout the week, concerned that we wouldn’t be able to fish. Between ice flows and a forecast calling for BIG SW winds and rain, it wasn’t looking good. However, these guys have fished with me for years and we’ve gone out in some wild weather—they love adventure.
After the defeat I suffered the day prior and facing a big SW wind and rain, I was very apprehensive about going back to Lake Ontario. However, I never wallow long in defeat and forced myself to get pumped up about grinding though some wild conditions and trying to make it happen. So, we went for it.
In short, we absolutely hammered lake trout. It was an outstanding session. Not many big ones, but the bite was very consistent and we had a blast. Here are a few pics. 
4/20/2025 – Happy Easter!
Fished Lake Ontario out of Lewiston, NY with Greg and Tanner (day 2). It was almost as good as the day prior. However, the bites came in flurries. We’d catch a bunch of fish, then there’d be a lull for a long time…followed by another frenzy. Don’t give up, stay with the program – the lesson I learned 2x this past week, kept ringing in my head during the lulls. I kept the impulse to run and gun at bey. 
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
I don’t have a lot more to add this week—finally, I a lot of time on the water so my bandwidth is a little narrow. Hopefully the play above was informative. Here are some notes:
- Lake Ontario is heating up – literally and figuratively.
- Surface temperatures were hovering around 40 at the end of the week.
- The lake trout bite was good (minus my failures)
- A couple captains landed a handful of king salmon and coho salmon
- Although I didn’t fish for them, quite a few captains did well in shallow water for brown trout.
- Lake Erie is heating up
- The ice is almost completely gone. It might pose a minor inconvenience here and there, but the days of it ruining trips are gone for the year
- All we need is a few more sunny days with highs in the 50s to bump the water temperatures up a couple of degrees and the smallmouth bass bite will start to fire up.
We’re at the cusp of spring chaos, my friends. It’s been a slow crescendo, but the action that makes the Buffalo Niagara Region famous is almost here.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 04/21/2025 – 04/27/2025
Forecast Commentary
The upcoming week’s forecast looks promising, with every day being fishable despite some east winds, a few hefty southwest gusts, and occasional rain keeping things interesting. No ice means we’ve got choices every day.
I’ll spend most of my time on Lake Ontario, targeting lake trout and salmon, and I’m betting I’ll land my first king of the season since other captains have already boated a few. One day, I’ll check out the upper Niagara or Lake Erie to see what’s going on, and by the weekend, I’m hoping to boat my first bass of the year.
Spring’s finally kicking in, and with a packed schedule, I’m fired up for what should be a killer week. Stay tuned!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan