Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 09/02/2024 – 09/08/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: It was a week of wild weather, but thanks to some hearty and adventurous clients, I was able to fish all but one day. There were high highs and low lows throughout – typical of a time of year when the weather is anything but stable. Still, every outing was a blast and we caught fish throughout. Bass are getting bigger, walleyes are still hanging around, and kings are staging/starting to run. Fall is nigh my friends. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 6
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Upper Niagara, Lower Niagara
What we caught: smallmouth bass, walleye, freshwater drum
Tactics: trolling worm harnesses, trolling spoons, drifting bait, jigging bucktails and blade baits
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
9/2/2024 – Fished Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY for smallmouth bass with Dave and Gene. The lake was far bigger than forecasted. Making it worse were NW waves plowing into west waves creating a washing machine effect. We got into fish, but it was picky. Although Dave and Gene were enjoying the adventurous conditions, we decided to call it early vs getting beat up by the growing waves. 
9/3/2024 – Did a Lower Niagara to Buffalo Harbor combo with Lindsey, Jessica, and Bob – all new anglers. The Lower Niagara was beautiful but fishing very slow. So, I decided to take the family out to the harbor instead to make up for the lack of action. It was drummy there, but rods were bent and good times had. It was fun watching their skills improve throughout the day. 
9/4/2024 – Fished the Upper Niagara for smallmouth bass with Rick and Von from PA. These guys are some of my best bass angling clients and they always do well when they come up. So, I asked them to help me do some recon work on the Upper Niagara. We poked around a few new zones that I’ve been wanting to fish for awhile. Most were a grind, but we found 1 new area that holds a lot of promise. 
9/5/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of the Catt with Rick and Von. To start – the forecast was WAY OFF. Lake Erie was HUGE when we started. I must admit, there were a couple of instances where I was having a hard time standing/balancing at the stern when netting fish and setting lines. The bite was a bit picky, but we got into them. We also did some recon work for smallmouth bass in the area. That work only produced drum. 
9/6/2024 – Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Sturgeon Point with the Whisperer and the Silent Assassin. This was one of those days that was awesome by every metric.
- For one, when I’m with these guys, it’s always a blast.
- Secondly, we were a bit apprehensive about going considering the forecast was calling for big wind and thunderstorms. However, there was a window in the morning that allowed us to get out for long enough to make it worthwhile. That little bit of apprehension made our success that much sweeter.
- Thirdly, we launched from a new location for me. I’ve only launched from Sturgeon Point once (last summer sometime), and it ended up not producing much. That wasn’t the case this time.
- Fourthly, we got a 3-man limit well before noon (and we started late).
- Finally, we got that limit bottom bouncing, working structure, rod in hand, yelling out that walleye hook set grunt all morning long. Oh yeah, we did a little jigging after we got our limit and the whisperer picked up a nice one on the 3/4oz white bucktail.
What a day!
9/7/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara with Jake, Steve, and Dylan. All the wind and rain from the day prior, plus the NW winds we were facing made the Lower Niagara the only option. Thankfully, the guys wanted to fish so we went for it. Unfortunately, we mostly caught a ton of small (2-3lb) smallmouth all day. We even tried to fish the bar in 5’ waves just to see what would happen. It was adventurous to say the least. Steve managed to catch the 2 “picture worthy” fish of the day. 
9/8/2024 – Huge SW winds and small craft advisories from Erie to Ontario caused me to reschedule my trip.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
On the Conditions
Not much has changed since last week so hopefully the play-by-play above gives you some sense of the pattern when it comes to angling around here in the Buffalo Niagara Region. However, I’m not going to be lazy this week and leave it at that. I have a few observations about the region in general – from the air, on the ground, and underwater. Although there are certainly more 80+ degree days coming our way this year, it seems like Mother Nature is getting us ready for fall. For the past few weeks, cold fronts have pushed through – bringing big N winds and dropping temperatures into the 60s for a couple days. It feels like fall folks.
In the Air
Many of the songbirds have already departed the region. Cormorants are starting to concentrate in mega flocks – something they seem to do every year around this time as they prepare for their southern migration. I’ve also seen flocks of hooded mergansers here and there on Lake Erie. They aren’t summer residents – they’re getting established around here for the fall and taking advantage of all the bait that’s swimming around.
On the Ground
Deer have antlers, turkeys are moving around a lot, and all the ground dwelling mammals are feverishly collecting what they can to get them through the winter. Some leaves are starting to change too. Nothing crazy, but I’ve seen some reds and oranges starting to pop here and there.
Underwater
Weeds are dying off at the rapid rate. As of this writing, the water coming out of Lake Erie is 71 degrees. That’s a bit below the historical mean for this time of year. It’ll come back up later this week after the 80 degree days, but the trend is a slow and steady decrease. Drum seem to be less prevalent. When I was in Devil’s Hole yesterday, I saw 2 king salmon porpoise.
I love this time of year. Watching all this change happen is wildly entertaining. Connecting to it all is even better.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 09/09/2024 – 09/15/2024
Forecast Commentary
After a week of wild weather, this upcoming week looks like it’ll be a nice break and a reversion to summer. After Monday, the winds will lay down for the rest of the week. Also, it looks like I’ll keep the shorts and flops on for most of the week as the temperatures come back up into the 70s and 80s. Bottom line, every day will be fishable.
I’m booked every day this upcoming week. The plan is to spend most of my time on Lake Erie targeting walleye and bass. However, I’m going to hunt kings and browns on Lake Ontario for at least one day. The lower Niagara and Upper Niagara will see me too.
Get out and enjoy the weather while you can folks! Sweater weather is coming. So is fall insanity. If you haven’t booked a trip yet, please call soon. I don’t have much available.
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan