Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 05/06/2024 – 05/12/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: Another full week, folks! Once again, I managed to fish the entire system. I watched the bass bite get better and better and the salmon bite get slower and slower. The water is warm, days are getting longer, and fish behavior has been weeks ahead of schedule. But really, what schedule? Last time I checked, the interests of fish don’t align with those of humans. I had hypotheses prior to this season – I’m reevaluating nearly all of them. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 7
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lak Erie, Upper Niagara, Lower Niagara, Lake Ontario
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye
Tactics: drop shots, spoons, bucktail jigs, stick baits, crank baits, tubes
Episode 84 of Two Angles on Angling: After yet another huge week of fishing for both Jordan and I, we spend a lot of time talking about our experiences on the water. We get deep about what “dumb” means after asking the question, “Are our devices making us dumb?” We also discuss the inevitability of becoming cybernetic, deciding when to get off the progress train, and more… https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/two-angles-on-angling
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
05/06/2024 – Fished the Upper Niagara with long time friends and clients, Fritz, Mike, and Tom. Every time these gentlemen come through, they do well. Day 1 of this trip was no different. We had perfect weather and found fish in nearly every area we targeted. 
05/07/2024 – Fished Lake Erie on Day 2 with Fritz, Mike, and Tom. It was a brutal day with bluebird skies and no wind. The slowness got into my head after awhile. I only took one photo. 
05/08/2024 – On Day 3 with the guys, we fished the Lower Niagara. By mid morning, we had sustained wind in the upper teens/low 20s out of the southwest. That had the current reliably raging downstream in every zone. We took full advantage of it and absolutely hammered. We needed that after the day prior. 
05/09/2024 – Day 1 with Frank and Frank Jr. up from NJ. Fished the Lower Niagara. We had a NE wind blowing all day. It made a few spots inconvenient to drift but we made it work. Catch rates weren’t what they were the day prior, but were steady nonetheless.
05/10/2024 – On Day 2 with the Franks, we fished the Upper Niagara. Partly cloudy skies and a light wind from the N allowed us to fish everywhere without an issue. Minus the inconsiderate individual that kept circling us in an incredibly loud speed boat, it was an awesome day. 
05/11/2024 – Day 3 with Frank and Frank Jr – fished Lake Erie in search of giants. We found them – and later got blown off the lake by a stiff NW wind and some rain.
05/12/2024 – FIshed the Upper Niagara with the whisperer and Captain America. Fish were caught and world hunger solved. 
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
Sorry folks, I’ve gotta be lazy this week – too little sleep. I’ll keep it quick and to the point.
Trout/Salmon
I didn’t fish salmon at all this past week. However, I can say this after talking to a few of my colleagues who did – the bite is getting tough. All the warm water flowing out of the Niagara has the fish spread out and difficult to pattern. This is typical for late May/early June. As I’ve mentioned numerous times at this point, the water is far warmer than it “normally” is this time of year.
Smallmouth bass
I’ll echo my notes from last week – the fish are in all phases right now. Some pre-spawn, some on beds, some post spawn. It’s been a wild ride so far. One day, an area will be loaded with small males. The next day, there will be giant females around. It seems like schools of fish are migrating to spawning grounds in waves. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch one of those waves. The only way to be sure that happens is to be on the water often.
We’ve been catching fish on a wide variety of baits lately. Swim baits, neds, tubes, cranks, jerks, dropshots, bucktails – I used all of these this past week and all caught fish. The bucktail has been my favorite as you can just hang that thing in their face and trigger a bite.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 05/13/2024 – 05/19/2024
Forecast Commentary
The forecast for this upcoming week looks great. Other than on Monday, wind won’t be much of a problem throughout. Rain will make an appearance here and there, but nothing prohibitive. I’m booked daily minus Wednesday (our 18th wedding anniversary) so it’ll be another packed week. Stand by for another great week!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan