Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 05/27/2024 – 06/02/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: This past week was one of those weeks where I spent “just the right amount of time” on the water. I got to relax a little bit, go to the gym, catch up on laundry, while still “staying in touch” with what’s going on under water. We’re in what I would some folks call the “transition” period. Fish are moving around a lot lately – keeping tabs on them is essential. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 4
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Upper Niagara River
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye, freshwater drum
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, jigging bucktails, drifting bait
Episode 86 of Two Angles on Angling: No podcast this week. I did only a handful of short duration trips and Jordan is in Michigan until later today. We’ll be back next week. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/two-angles-on-angling
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
05/27/2024 – Wind and rain. I wasn’t booked so I stayed off the water.
05/28/2024 – Wind and rain. I wasn’t booked so I stayed off the water.
05/29/2024 – The wind and rain let off a little bit. I wasn’t booked so I stayed off the water.
05/30/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes with the whisperer. We had a NNW wind blowing and it took us a little bit to figure out the pattern. Once we figured it out, we had a consistent bite. Got our limit – nothing big though. 
05/31/2024 – Did a short trip for walleyes on Lake Erie with the whisperer. I only had from 6-8AM to fish, but I wanted to stay on that group of fish we found the day prior. The wind shifted from N to SSW so the fished moved around a little bit. It took about 20 mins to find them but when we did, we had a consistent bite. Got a limit and made it back to the dock before 9AM. No pictures taken.
At 9AM I picked up a team from the Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper – Guardian of WNY’s fresh water for over 30 years. (bnwaterkeeper.org). I was only a source of transportation and entertainment for the team. I took them to 5 sites between Sturgeon Point and the harbor (they chose these sites) to collect water samples. Follow them on social media or via their news letter to see all the work these folks do to protect the region’s most precious resource.
06/01/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for smallmouth bass with Veetai, Jim, and Owen (local guys). The original plan was to fish the Upper Niagara. However, after fishing 3 zones that were loaded with fish 5 days prior and landing nothing, I made the call to head to the lake. It was a windless day and angling pressure was a factor. Still, we were able to connect with a handful of giants. Kinda grindy, but we made lemonade, covered a ton of water, and had a good time. 
06/02/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes with Tony, Martin, and Anthony from Tonawanda, NY. It was a grindy session with a lot of boat traffic. We poked around some zones that didn’t have a crowd with little success. I had numerous marks in just about every location we fished – not a lot of eats though.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
I didn’t spend much time on the water this past week. On 3 of the 4 days, I targeted walleyes so that’ll be the bulk of the observations that follow.
Walleye
Pattern
Let me start by saying that I am merely an aspiring expert when it comes to fishing walleyes this early in the year. However, as I mentioned in last week’s report, they’re around and can be caught in good to great numbers right now. Thursday and Friday were very successful outings. Action was consistent all morning. We stayed close to the harbor in water deeper than 35’ in some of the holes/flat areas bordering structure. I bottom bounced worm harnesses in a variety of colors and all caught fish.
If you followed the trend of my notes from the play-by-play above, you noticed that I went from “on them” to wondering where they are in about 36 hours. When I started Sunday morning (today), once again, I had a good picture. However, we didn’t get many commitments. In fact, we boated more white perch than walleyes. I’m scratching my head, but I’ll be back on the hunt tomorrow.
Tactical Considerations
This time of year, when the fish are concentrated in a small area and when angling pressure is high, I only troll 4 rods. It’s the perfect amount to keep everyone on the boat engaged. Plus, reeling in and motoring back to where you started (or moving in general, for that matter) is a breeze with only 4 rods to contend with. Another benefit to fishing a small spread is you can turn at a hard angle and not have to worry about getting your lines crossed.
In addition to fishing a small spread, I always troll with the wind when bottom bouncing. Using my trolling motor, I keep the bow pointed downwind, taking advantage of the push of the wind/waves and only running my trolling motor at slow speeds for an extra push. I keep my speed under 1.5mph.
One final tactic I use when pulling bottom bouncers around is taking advantage of the trails/breadcrumbs feature on my Navionics/chart. If I fished a line and it was good, I know that I can do that again by following my last trail. If it wasn’t a good pull, I can offset and try a new one – building a bracket or “shot group” of the area. Easy, efficient, effective…until it isn’t lol.
Smallmouth Bass
I only targeted smallmouth bass one day this past week – yesterday (Saturday). I started in the river fishing some of the target rich zones that I hit last weekend…ghost town. After fishing through the third zone with no success, we opted to go to the lake. It was a grind out there, but at least we had some action.
I’m sure there are some fish still on beds right now, but that’s on the wane. In those target rich zones in the river that I mentioned above, there were old beds but only a couple fish. Seems like a post spawn pattern to me.
Many of the post spawn fish are slowly moving into deeper water. It won’t be long for them to be set up in their summer zones – deep water with a lot of structure/rocks and fast current feeding lanes. This “transition” period can be feast or famine. Thankfully, it only lasts a couple of weeks.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 06/03/2024 – 06/09/2024
Forecast Commentary
The forecast for this upcoming week looks like this past week, but the chaos takes place at a different time. Monday and Tuesday look excellent. Wednesday looks VERY dicey with rain, wind, and cooler temps. Thursday looks less dicey. Friday, even less so. Next weekend looks great.
I’m encouraged by the mild daytime highs (60s) – that should keep the water temperature stable. As of this writing, the Niagara is flowing at 63 degrees. That’s well within the historical average and the same as it was on this day for the past 2 years. My fears of an “early” walleye departure are starting to abate. I remain cautiously optimistic we’ll be in great shape though mid-July.
I’ll be on the water Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Walleyes will be the focus throughout, but I’ll do some poking around for smallmouth in the river and Lake Erie too. See you out there!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan