Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 07/28/2025 – 08/03/2025
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: What a week on Lake Erie—walleye chaos and non-stop action ruled the days! From July 28 to August 3, 2025, we tore it up out of Hanover and Buffalo, NY, with families, first-timers, and fun-loving crews. Whether it was young Aiden running the deck like a pro, Cheyenne landing a giant channel cat, or Erin, Tiara, and Hanna pounding fish non-stop, the action was relentless. A gnarly NE wind flipped the lake, shuffling the deck a bit, but we still found ‘em stacked up and hungry. Took a breather on July 31 to avoid the wind and rain, but otherwise, it was all gas, no brakes—limits filled and memories for days. Life on the water? Still as good as it gets, folks.
Keep scrolling to read all about it.
Days on the water: 6
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Lower Niagara
What we caught: walleye, smallmouth bass, freshwater drum, channel catfish
Tactics: bottom bouncing worm harnesses, trolling divers and planer boards with harnesses and spoons; casting finesse baits
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
07/28/2025 – Elmwood Park W Represents
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Hanover, NY with Ryan, Chelsea, and Aiden. The action was insane from beginning to end. I don’t know how many times we ended up with 1 or no rods in the water. What a day. Young Aiden could’ve been my first mate – little dude was dialed in the entire time. 
07/29/2025 – A Break from the Office – not from the Chaos
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Hanover, NY with new clients, Dave and Cole. Dave is a financial advisor who runs his own business. The man works his butt off and wanted to spend some time on the water with his son to get a little break from the office. Both were new to the walleye game but did very well landing limits in short order. It was a wild morning. After “boxing out,” we went jigging for a bit. Cole landed a 15.5lb drum – biggest I’ve ever boated. 
07/30/2025 – Challenge Accepted
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Hanover, NY with the Whisperer and Captain America. When I spoke with the Whisperer the afternoon prior, he told me that it was just going to be him as Cap had to work. Although I’m always a fan of a Whisperer solo session, blood lust had me wanting more time on the water with more fish in the box. So, I told the Whisperer that if we started early, Captain America would be able to get home, shower, eat breakfast, and still get to work before 9:00…and that’s what ended up happening. Insane action…insane. 
07/31/2025 – Weather Day
Rain and a small craft advisory (strong NE winds) caused me to reschedule the trip. I had a mother and her 2 teenage sons on the docket. There were a couple options to make the day happen, but all would entail some level of hardship. They were keen to go for it, but I had a last minute cancellation for Saturday and that forecast looked excellent. So, we made the change and I enjoyed a day off.
08/01/2025 – Winds of Change
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY with Mark, Cheyenne, and Jaylon, in town from IL. It had been close to a week since I last fished out of Buffalo, and I was a little anxious about what I would find. I heard good reports from a couple of other captains that fished it earlier in the week but after that hard NE, I didn’t know what to expect.
Before I left the house that morning, I checked the Dunkirk Seagull Buoy and noticed that the hard NE from the day prior caused the lake to flip. Surface temperatures over there dropped from close to 80 to the mid-60s. However, it didn’t look like much changed by Buffalo, NY. Did that flip send more fish toward the Buff like it did on Father’s Day weekend? Well, I believe it did.
It took me a little while to find them in good numbers, but when I did, we hammered. Everyone left with their limit. Plus, we landed the biggest channel catfish I’ve ever boated. Good times! Oh yeah, I had to wear a hoody and pants in the AM – it was actually chilly in the morning. That felt incredible. 
08/02/2025 – Anti-crowd Work
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY with new clients Stephanie, Max, and Cole. I was on my way out to where I was the day prior when I noticed a massive group of fish on my sonar. So, I stopped to investigate and sure enough, the walleyes were stacked up on the bottom – layers thick – and there was nobody around. In short – once again, another stellar outing with some great people. We did a little bassing afterwards for good measure. 
08/03/2025 – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY with new clients Erin, Tiara, and Hanna. This trio of coworkers was looking for a fun group outing and decided a guided fishing trip would be an adventure. New to fishing, these quick-learning ladies embraced the experience with enthusiasm, hammering walleyes all morning. With barely a moment when all four baits were in the water, they each reeled in their limits, making for an unforgettable day on the lake.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
I’m not going to get too deep this week, folks – hopefully the play-by-play above gave you enough to think about. I’ll say this much – when Lake Erie flipped the other day, it shuffled the deck and scattered the walleyes. When we had stability, we had a thermocline and fish weren’t moving much. Now, the lake is resetting, and the fish are moving around. The only zone that remained stable through the flip was the “second 90” along the US/Canada line – they’re still thick out there according to some of my colleagues who stayed south/west. Although Buffalo re-loaded with fish, that group isn’t sitting still and I’m not sure how long they’ll be around.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 08/03/2025 – 08/10/2025
Forecast Commentary
The forecast for this upcoming week is calling for a return to those HOT and windless days. I’m not super excited about that, but stability should make it easier to stay on the walleyes in the upcoming days. The pursuit of Lake Erie gold will continue through mid-week. Then, off to a quick family vacation through the weekend.
There are many folks that read this fishing blog – clients and recreational anglers alike. I’m going to mention this maybe one more time and then I’ll stop: FALL IS GETTING CLOSE. More than a handful of you heeded my call for fall bookings last week. Accordingly, availability is getting exceedingly sparse. If you want a chance at fall kings, a trout slam, or some giant smallmouth bass, please give me a call soon.
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan