Days on the Water: 5
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Upper Niagara, Lower Niagara
What we caught: smallmouth bass, freshwater drum
Tactics: neds, live bait
Commentary for the Week of 09/12/2022 – 09/18/2022
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: I’m not sure what to say about this past week…high highs and low lows, I guess. Fish behavior was more like the summer than the fall. We got a small dose of fall-like weather followed by more temperatures in the 80s and all the on-the-water activities associated with that kind of weather. Good times with great folks, nonetheless.
Episode 25 is live: As per usual, Jordan and I discuss what we saw on the water this past week as well as the forecast for this upcoming week. Jordan fished a tournament and I unfortunately had to fish though a couple tournaments this past week, so the conversation gets interesting.
Daily Conditions Analysis
Monday – heavy rain midday and a decent push of wind. Rescheduled the trip for later in the month.
Tuesday – Fished Lake Erie. Winds were minimal but enough. Fairly consistent action – mix of bass and drum on the rock piles/shoals.
Wednesday – day off
Thursday – Fished Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara. Winds were out of the NE and minimal. Lake fished slow as did the river.
Friday – Fished the Lower Niagara and Upper Niagara. Decent action on both – no biggies.
Saturday – Fished Lake Erie. Little to no wind PLUS 2 bass tournaments going on PLUS awesome weather/LOTS of recreational boaters came out for one last outing = SLOW all around.
Sunday – tried to get in a big wind/wave session on Lake Erie with a couple of my regular clients/friends. It started off wonderfully – consistent action through 3 drifts. Then one of them got violently seasick – like projectile vomiting and VERY LOUD heaving kinda seasick. It was understandable that it happened – we were fishing through a small craft advisory – 2-4′ waves and some even bigger. That might sound crazy but it’s perfectly safe and my favorite kind of outing. They knew what they were getting into. In fact, we did the same thing last year – almost to the day. The same guy got seasick but after throwing up, he was fine. Not this time. We moved to the river and picked away through the weeds and boat traffic.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
I’m going to go ahead and write this past week off as a string of lackluster luck. I guess I’m just antsy as I want to see the fall pattern erupt…but it’s shaping up a little slower than anticipated. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still connecting to some quality fish in good numbers near daily, but it isn’t the fall frenzy just yet.
I’ve been splitting my time between Lake Erie, the Upper Niagara, and the Lower Niagara. All are producing fish – good numbers but mostly on the small side. Lately, my preference is to stay in Lake Erie – mainly because there are a lot of loose weeds in the river. Maybe I think this every year, but for some reason it seems like the loose weeds are a FAR GREATER nuisance this fall than in previous years.
In case you’re not on the water very often throughout the year, allow me to describe this “loose weeds” phenomenon. Aquatic plants, just like most plants, need light to grow. When the days start getting shorter (i.e. as we enter into fall), plants start dying. If you live near any green space, look around – some leaves on the trees are starting to turn. Eventually, those leaves will fall and cover the ground, creating all kinds of extra chores for those of you with a lawn. Well, the same thing happens underwater with aquatic vegetation. It dies, floats to the surface, gets matted up in places where the wind blows or where the current encounters a fixed object, and creates a mess for anglers.
Loose weeds aside, the other reason for the somewhat slow sessions out there is because the water is still very warm. It’s only a couple of degrees warmer than the historical average but those couple of degrees are keeping the fish in snacking mode vs full out frantic feast mode. It’s only a matter of time my friends. I’ll leave you with this – if you fish the river, focus on the deep stuff, preferably along the windward bank to avoid weeds. If you’re fishing the lake, rocks remain the place to be.
Looking Forward to the Week of 09/19/2022 – 09/25/2022
Fishing Forecast for Next Week
FINALLY – a forecast with temperatures in the 40s!!! It’s going to be a messy week though. Monday is supposed to be a rainy and windy mess – so is Wednesday. Tuesday looks like a perfect little window between those days with light winds and mild temps. Thursday and Friday both look like they’ll be borderline prohibitively windy. However, Friday’s winds will supposedly be out of the NW so that could open up some opportunities. The weekend looks like it’ll be nice, but I never trust a forecast beyond a couple of days this time of year. Chaos looms…
I have some boat maintenance on the docket early this upcoming week as well as some medical appointments/follow ups to attend (recovery is…complete, I guess. Weight is back, strength is getting close as is cardio, mind feels fantastic), so time on the water will be limited. I’ll get out at least a couple days with friends and clients – likely Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. I hope to see you out there.
One last reminder – fall is only a few days away. The calendar is packed but I’m sure I can get you in somewhere if you waited til the last minute to book. Give me a call!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan
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