Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 05/26/2025 – 06/01/2025
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: The last week of May 2025 was a wild ride on the waters of the Buffalo Niagara Region. It was a week filled with challenging conditions, memorable moments, and a mix of fishing fortunes. From a grind on Memorial Day to a thrilling ride through crashing waves on the Upper Niagara where an 8-year-old outfished everyone, each trip brought its own story. Slow days tested patience with young anglers, while veterans and college-aged crews brought lively conversations and decent catches. Some massive winds over the weekend kept me off the water/provided opportunities to rest. Here’s a glimpse into the highs, lows, and everything in between from a week of chasing fish and making memories.
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Days on the water: 4
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Ontario, Lower Niagara, Upper Niagara, Lake Erie
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye, steelhead, lake trout
Tactics: 3-way rigs with minnows; casting swim baits, dropshots, tubes, and bucktails
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
05/26/2025 – Memorial Day
Fished Lake Ontario out of Wilson, NY and the Lower Niagara out of Lewiston, NY with Andy, Drew, and Nicholas. We started late (teenage boys) – lines were wet around 8:30AM. We didn’t touch a fish for 2 hours. It was a grind. So, we made the move to the Lower Niagara – where it was hot, sunny, crowded, and without action as well. Tough session.
05/27/2025 – Short Angler Session
Fished a half day trip on Lake Erie and a little slice of the Upper Niagara with Mike and his 5-year-old son, Theo. It was dead calm on Lake Erie – which meant pulling baits was the only play. When there’s a young boy involved, that’s never a great option…unless the action is consistent. Well, it wasn’t – so we changed it up and went to the river for a little bit.
It’s always tough for me when the fishing is slow, especially with a young kid on board. I want young anglers to have steady action, particularly on their first charter. Those first outings shape their impressions of what fishing is all about. Sure, parents play a role, but if they’re new to fishing too, the pressure’s on me to deliver. On this trip, we all enjoyed ourselves, but I was on edge with the fish barely cooperating.
05/28/2025 – Fished with Anglers Edge
Joe Srouji of Anglers Edge Outdoors (Niagara River Fishing Charter – Angler’s Edge Outdoors LLC) brought me on for a 2-boat trip on the Lower Niagara. I fished with Mack and Thomas – visiting the area from Connecticut. The bite was OK, but fishing with a couple of college aged men was a good time. It’s not that often that I get to fish with folks from this generation by themselves (meaning without their parents) – there are some big differences between them and us “X-ers.” However, there are far more similarities. Maybe I’ll rant about this in a blog over the winter. 
05/29/2025 – Veterans Session
Fished a Lower/Upper combo with long time friend/client, John, and his buddy. John has been fishing with me for a long time. He’s a disabled veteran who, nowadays, spends most of his time in the Philippines with his lovely wife, Mercy. I usually fish with those 2, but this time, John brought along a friend, James, who’s still serving in the Guard.
When you put 3 veterans on a boat together, the conversations are always entertaining. That was certainly the case on this day – plus, the fish were compliant.
05/30/2025 – An Unexpected Adventure
Fished a half-day on the Upper Niagara with Jack, his daughter Janelle, and her 8-year-old son, Jack. When I checked the forecast while on the phone with Jack the previous afternoon, it predicted the wind would ease overnight—calm enough to fish inside the harbor walls. But when I arrived, waves were crashing over the walls, and whitecaps churned inside the harbor. Plan B was in order. We powered through the “wave pool” at the head of the Niagara, battling a fierce west wind, and made it downstream where we would have some shelter. Action was steady, and young Jack dominated, out fishing everyone in both size and numbers.
05/31/2025 – Wind Day
I had a trip on the books but ended up cancelling due to the weather. It was the right call; a HUGE NW blew all day. There are a handful of places you can tuck into if you want to fish during a BIG NW – but not many. Not enough to make it a full day experience in my opinion. So, I stayed off the water, slept in, went to the gym, and relaxed for the rest of the day.
06/01/2025 – Day Off
Had the day off. Considering that small craft advisories were in effect until 4PM, I was happy to be off the water relaxing.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
Smallmouth in Spawn Mode: Keep it Moving
The smallmouth bass are almost entirely in spawn mode – hence all the smaller fish you likely noticed in the photos. The water is still chilly (Lake Erie June Temperatures Buffalo), but right in the sweet spot for them to get their “spawn on.” As I mentioned in last week’s report, if you target bass right now, you’re going to catch some spawners whether you’re trying to or not. Please, do something like what I do – cover a lot of ground/don’t soak areas. Let them breed with as little interruption as possible.
Here’s an example of what not to do: for 2 days in a row, I watched 2 bass boats from West Virginia spot lock in a small nook on the lower Niagara for hours each day. By a small nook, I mean an area no bigger than 40 sq ft…and they stayed there for hours…both days. I drifted past them a couple times. Then I fished downriver for a while. Then I came back upriver to take the boat out of the water – they were still there. Please, don’t do this. It’s super greedy/gluttonous.
The main counter to my position is that people really want to catch fish. Those WV boys trailered their boat all the way up here – they’re likely thinking that they’re gonna do what it takes to bend a rod. My response? Sorry, it sucks that you planned your trip here when you did. Play the hand you’re dealt – cover water and stop beating up on the same fish over and over and over.
Transition Time
With the bass on beds, my program for the next few weeks will incorporate a mix of activities. Walleyes are starting to show up more often – so I’ll spend part of the beginning of nearly every session targeting them. They aren’t schooled up in our basin by any means. However, there are enough around on structure that you can catch a “family fish fry” worth in a morning before transitioning to bass fishing for a bit.
Following my big humbling on Lake Ontario this past Monday, I need some revenge. By all counts, the coho bite out there has been excellent with more and more kings showing up. I’ll get that dialed this week – and it’ll become part of the weekly plan until the big schools of walleyes make their way into NY waters. Fingers crossed – we’ll start seeing that happen in a couple weeks.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 06/02/2025 – 06/08/2025
Forecast Commentary
It looks like summer weather will finally make an appearance here in Western NY. My parents arrived from Florida this past week and, due to the weather, haven’t left their condo much as the weather has been chilly, rainy, and windy of late. That’s about to change – we’ll likely see temperatures hit the 80s for at least couple days.
Although a warming trend is in store, this upcoming week won’t be without its challenges. SW winds gusting into the 20s will dominate the front part of the week, making for some choppy days on the big water. NWs and Es are predicted to follow – stirring things up more before settling down. Classic “transition” weather.
I’m booked all but one day – Friday – a day I blocked for boat maintenance. The plan is, once again, to fish everything from Erie to Ontario. If all goes well, there will be some pics of salmon and walleyes to accompany the bass photos. Stay tuned.
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan