Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 08/18/2025 – 08/24/2025
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: Last week on Lake Erie was a whirlwind of fishing adventures, from steady walleye hauls to chaotic multispecies sessions. We battled big waves, shifting winds, and thermocline flips, but the fish didn’t let us down. From a three-generation family trip making lifelong memories to a 77-year-old angler declaring his best day ever, each outing brought its own thrills—consistent hookups, wild smallmouth frenzies, and even a fish caught on a dangling line. Whether it was new clients filling limits or old friends riding waves with smiles, the lake delivered action-packed days and unforgettable moments.
Days on the water: 7
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Lower Niagara River
What we caught: walleye, smallmouth bass, freshwater drum
Tactics: bottom bouncing worm harnesses, trolling divers and planer boards with harnesses and spoons, drifting live bait
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
08/18/2025 – Kinda Cookie Cutter
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY with new clients Rick, Trav, and Al. I titled this “Cookie Cutter” because occasionally, a day passes with no drama – just consistent action and good times. There were some big”ish” waves and whitecaps, but these guys were hearty and stayed in the game all day. Everyone got their limit. I only took this one photo – it was the only fish we caught in the mid-20″ class. The rest were all good eaters. No doubles, no triples, just consistent hookups all morning. Easy going session. 
08/19/2025 – 3 Generations on the Water
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY with John, Drew, and Tristen. I’ve known Drew since 9th grade and we’ve been friends ever since. He lives with his wife and kids out in Great Valley, NY these days so I don’t see him very often. However, we try to get on the water at least once every year. This time, he brought his father (John) and son (Tristen) – a 3-generation session that was sure to make memories.
Drew and his family aren’t big fans of eating fish. However, following our session last summer, they went home with some walleyes and ended up loving them. Prior to this outing, Drew’s wife asked me if we were going to be walleye fishing. I replied with something like, “That’s the plan…and if all goes well, you’ll have PLENTY after we’re done.” All went well. 
08/20/2025 – Transition in the Making
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes with my brother Nate and his sons, Colton and Liam. It had been a long time since I’ve fished with these 3 together. The original plan for the day was to fish Lake Ontario with clients, but BIG NE winds forced me to reschedule that trip. So, I saw an opportunity to get on the water with Nate and the boys and thankfully, they were able to make it.
It was a wild day. There was a little wind coming out of the W, dense fog, sporadic rain, and some big rollers coming in from the SW left over from the night prior. I set up about 10miles offshore hoping to ride those rollers while I could. To start, we couldn’t get all our rods in the water without getting bit – action was crazy. Doubles were common. As the day progressed, the wind shifted almost 180degrees and started blowing out of the NE. This made boat control difficult – but it didn’t matter – we continued to hammer.
Eventually, that NE wind started kicking up whitecaps on the tops of those SW rollers. So, we opted to move closer to Buffalo to get out of the choppy stuff. Action was just as insane in that area. At one point, one of my lines was just hanging in the water with some nuggets of worm on the hooks after landing a fish – maybe 5’ under the surface – the rod was in a rod holder. I asked Colton to point the rod at me so I could re-bait his hook. When he lifted the rod out of the holder, there was a fish on it. Ridiculous. 
08/21/2025 – A Painful Reminder
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY with the Whisperer and the Silent Assassin. Throughout the night leading up to the trip, the thermocline flip progressed. Plus, the NE winds were at their peak – going too far offshore wasn’t in the cards. When we made it out there, fish were sparse on the sonar – just a handful suspended here and there. Anxiety started to bubble.
It was a grind out there to start as I struggled to get a good bite going employing all the techniques I had been using in recent weeks. We had quite a few hook ups but dropped MANY. I had to change something. Then I remembered what I learned back in June – if you’re confident there are fish around but you’re not marking many – fish high in the column.
Since I didn’t mark many fish and those that I did mark were suspended high in the water column, I started running baits 15-30’ down. That did the trick and the bite picked up. Unfortunately, that idea came to me too late in the day for us to get some chaos going – the Assassin had to depart for a mission to Tokyo. They got their limit just in time though. No pics taken.
08/22/2025 – Best Day Ever!
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Buffalo, NY with long time clients Gerry, Randy, and Kristen. The day was sunny, the lake was dead calm, and the crowds were thick – not traditionally thought of as optimal walleye conditions. To get away from the crowds, we went about 14 miles offshore, turned the boat toward the city, set a course and went.
We hammered fish the entire way – only keeping fish bigger than 20” to extend our day. Action was insane. Gerry is 77 – he’s been fishing walleyes most of those years. At the end of the day, he remarked that it was the best day of fishing he’s ever had. Nothing makes me happier in this business than hearing something like that from a person who’s lived a full life and seen MANY things on the water. Great trip!
08/23/2025 – Wave Riding Multispecies Banger
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes and smallmouth bass out of Buffalo, NY, with Matt and Kevin. The waves were biggish – so it took us a little while to find walleyes. When we did, it was, once again, insane. The guys fished rod in hand off the back of the boat with another rod in the rod holder next to them as I pulled along with the waves. Big hook sets and bent rods happened OFTEN. So did “individual doubles.” Wild session.
We followed quick limits of walleyes with a stellar bass session on structure. The smalljaws were hyperactive in those waves…and we didn’t catch a single drum. Awesome day with some great guys. 
08/24/2025 – Smallcraft Advisory/Warrior Weather
Fished the Lower Niagara and Lake Erie with Paul and Henry – Day 1 of their annual trip. This father/son duo has been fishing with me for a few years now and we always have a blast. We started on the lower, but after a couple of hours and only landing one walleye, something had to change. So, I made the bold decision to move to Lake Erie. I’m glad I did.
When we got out there, it was fairly calm – but that didn’t last long. Once we got set up, rods got bent almost immediately. As the waves increased in size, the action got wilder and wilder. It was a smallmouth bass feeding frenzy out there and we were the only boat in sight. I almost forgot how awesome bass fishing is in big waves.
Our ride in was an adventure. Henry blasted tunes as we rode 3-5’ waves back to the harbor – smiling and laughing the whole way. What a day!
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
Lake Erie flipped earlier in the week – but the S and W winds from the past couple of days redistributed all that cold water. Now, who knows what the situation is. One thing I can say with confidence is that most of the drum took off after that cold water crept in, leaving only bass and some walleyes on structure – which is awesome. Beyond that, time on the water starting tomorrow will tell the story.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 08/25/2025 – 08/31/2025
Forecast Commentary
As I mentioned above, all the chaos in the water column the past 5 days or so make it hard to predict what next week will hold on Lake Erie. Big W and SW wind/big waves will be in play Monday – Wednesday. After that, it looks like things will calm down a bit with a transition to east winds.
I bet most of the walleyes that have been hanging out close to Buffalo, NY moved way off shore to deeper, more stable water after all this big wind. That’ll likely continue into next week. I hope I’m wrong, but we’ve been so spoiled for so long, it’s about time we face some adversity. Next week should be very interesting. I’m looking forward to trying to figure it out.
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan