Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 06/24/2024 – 06/30/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: What a wild week! Despite all the obstacles Mother Nature put out there, I managed to fish all 7 days. Although the forecast was WAY off on some of the days (wind was frequently a problem), I put the Warrior to the test and did well on every outing. From walleyes to king salmon/from Erie to Ontario, good times and excellent catch rates lasted throughout the week. I want to send a big shout out to all the folks who fished with me, nice work enduring tough conditions and making it happen! Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 7
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Lake Ontario
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye, freshwater drum, king salmon, coho salmon, steelhead
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, drifting bait, trolling spoons, jigging blade baits and bucktails
Episode 89 of Two Angles on Angling: No podcast this week. Jordan is on a fishing vacation to the Str Lawrence region. Check us out next week when we discuss his trip. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/two-angles-on-angling
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
06/24/2024 – Fished Lake Erie in huge waves with Mark, his brother, and his brother-in-law. It didn’t take long for one of these guys (I won’t say who) to get seasick.
Side note: It’s always unfortunate when sea sickness emerges. When it’s guys, sometimes the dude who gets seasick is berated for a couple hours by his friends before asking me to take him in. Other times, they don’t want to watch the guy suffer so we call it. When a woman gets seasick, we go in right away. Maybe that’s sexist…I just think it’s considerate.
Anyway, if you’re going on a charter fishing trip on either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario, there’s a good chance it’ll be rolling out there. So, if you know you’re prone to seasickness, do what you can to mitigate it. Check out this link: How to prevent seasickness – includes 19 remedies if you get it! | Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (bhtp.com)
Back to our day on the water. These guys were considerate of the seasick individual, so we dropped him off back at the harbor. We spent the rest of the morning fishing the walls around the harbor catching drum with a side of smallmouth bass. 
06/25/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes with new clients – Jody, Steve, and John. Catching walleye on Lake Erie was a bucket list goal for Jody. He can put a check next to that one. Mission accomplished. We got our limit quickly and had them off the water in time for an afternoon nap.
I didn’t take any pictures – I’ll address why in my wrap up below.
06/26/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes with the whisperer and Captain America. When we pulled up to the launch, a couple of my colleagues were hanging out in the parking lot talking. I said, “What’s up,” and asked what they were doing. Both said waves were crashing over the wall and they were waiting for it to lay down.
I replied that it didn’t look too bad and besides, that’s why I run a Warrior. They looked at me askance, likely thinking I was a cocky asshole. But I meant what I said. We charged straight into 2-4’ waves, set up, and immediately started catching walleyes. We got our limit VERY quickly and I was able to get the whisperer home in time for his afternoon nap.
I didn’t take any pictures – I’ll address why in my wrap up below.
06/27/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for smallmouth bass with long time friend/client Brian and his friend Doc. I’ve been fishing with Brian for a long time now and we always have a blast. Deep conversations and story telling are always going on while keeping rods bent.
On this session, the freshwater drum were far more aggressive than the smallies…as per usual this time of year. 
06/28/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes with Greg, Tanner, and Dustin. Greg and his son Tanner have been fishing with me for years. They always come up for a couple days in the spring and another couple days in the fall. This past spring, Mother Nature’s wrath cut their trip short with huge wind, rain/snow, and freezing temps.
Having missed out on precious fishing time this past spring, they wanted to make it up before their fall trip. I’ve been trying to convince them to book a walleye trip for years. However, they were hesitant due to negative experiences on a couple of Ohio trips. I explained to them that I was disappointed they thought they could have a negative experience with me and encouraged them to book something in late June.
We caught our limit ridiculously fast. Some folks would just go in after that, but they drove all the way up from Ohio, so I wasn’t about to just call it a day. So, we fished for walleyes using rod-in-hand techniques and just released them. Blade baits, smile blades, and bucktails all worked.
I managed to take a couple pics – but should’ve taken more. I’ll address why below. 
06/29/2024 – Day 2 of the Greg, Tanner, and Dustin trip. Facing huge SW winds and pelting rain, we had 2 options. Option 1 – stay off the water. Option 2 – fish Lake Ontario where a huge SW won’t be too bad. I was psyched they chose option 2.
For reference, I’ve never fished Lake Ontario this time of year. I focus on Lake Erie and the Niagara from late May through December. However, my buddy Matt Yablonski told me he’s been doing very well fishing out of Wilson, NY and even though it was out of my comfort zone, I’d be able to connect to a few fish at minimum. He was right.
It was epic out there. Pelting rain and HUGE wind that moved from the NE to the SW created all kinds of boat control issues. It made for a memorable experience. Insanity kept our spirits high all day and we had a blast. 
06/30/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes with new clients Brian, Matt, and Casey. Contrary to the forecast, the lake was huge to start off the day. Big SW winds had things rolling. Despite the wild ride, we immediately started catching fish. Then, the winds turned to NW and turned the lake into a massive washing machine – waves from multiple directions. Still, we caught fish. What an adventure! 
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
Hopefully the detailed play-by-play above whet your appetite for fish porn and info. I’m going to take a different approach from the usual and get deep on a topic – blood lust.
On Blood Lust
I really hope the following doesn’t come off as arrogant but here it goes. The walleye bite has been so ridiculous lately that I haven’t had time to take photos. Well, that’s not entirely true – taking pictures hasn’t been a priority on walleye trips because the catch rates are so fast and furious.
As I’ve mentioned in my past couple of reports, I’m sensitive to the fact that my commentary has been sparse lately. I tried to be mindful of my lack of photos this past week, yet I still failed to produce. The reason for my failure came to me on a drive home – blood lust. It’s a predatory response that keeps us anglers “dialed in” until…well…it wanes.
There’s something about experiencing a feeding frenzy that hones the focus on one thing – capitalizing on the opportunity. For me, the priority is to net the fish, unhook it, bleed it, put it in the live well, and rebait the hook as fast as possible so we can catch another one. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “in the zone.” Well, when a feeding frenzy is afoot, charter captains/guides get in the zone. Little else matters other than keeping it going.
So, I’m blaming blood lust/hormones/rapidly firing neurons or whatever synonyms work here for my lack of walleye photos. However, there is one other reason for my dearth of walleye photography. A walleye must be a minimum of 15” to keep here in NY (on Lake Erie that is). Often, you catch many fish that are between 15” and 20” in an outing. Walleyes that size are tough to photograph/don’t make for a sexy photo. That’s why you see so many “table layouts” and “live well shots” from charter captains on social media. We take photos like these to “prove” that a high catch rate happened.
Bottom line, I’ll try to do a better job taking walleye photos. However, I hope you can understand why that might not happen – blood lust is a powerful thing.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 07/01/2024 – 07/07/2024
Forecast Commentary
The forecast for this upcoming week looks excellent. Wind might only be a factor on one day…if that. Temperatures will be mild (except for a couple of 80-degree days) and rain won’t be much of a factor. In summary, all days will be fishable.
I’m booked every day except for the 4th (I always take that day off because the traffic is insane). I’ll be committed to walleye fishing on Lake Erie for the whole week. Catch rates have been awesome…and it’s just beginning. I hope to see you out there!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan