Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 09/22/2025 – 09/28/2025
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: What a week on the water—fresh off a late-night return from an awesome North Dakota cast-and-blast, I dove straight into seven days of chasing smallmouth bass, walleyes, and a few surprises across Lake Erie and the Niagara River, with mixed results that kept me on my toes. From frustrating bass sessions to reliable walleye gold, here’s a quick rundown of the highs, lows, and lessons from September 22-28, 2025, fishing out of Buffalo, Hanover, and Lewiston, NY.
Days on the water: 7
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Upper Niagara, Lower Niagara River
What we caught: walleye, smallmouth bass
Tactics: bottom bouncing worm harnesses, trolling divers and planer boards with harnesses and spoons, drifting live bait
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
09/22/2025 – Rude Return
Fished Lake Erie for smallmouth bass with Veetai, Mike, and Ted. Conditions were perfect – overcast skies and a stiff, but not too big wind out of the SE. We crossed fish all day long with marginal results. A dink here and there. No pictures taken. Very frustrating day – not sure what was going on.
09/23/2025 – Another Rough Day
Fished Lake Erie for smallmouth bass out of Buffalo, NY with Brian and Doc. These gentlemen have been fishing with me for years now. We’ve had some amazing days…and then there was this day. Once again, we had good conditions – overcast with just the right amount of breeze. Just like the day prior, we crossed fish all day long, but they weren’t in the mood – even passing up on live bait. Also like the previous day, size was way down. Only good fish came to the net. 
09/24/2025 – Sigh of Relief – Life is still Good
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Hanover, NY with the Whisperer and the Silent Assassin. It was a nice day – a little offshore wind, mild temperatures, and overcast skies. We did what we’ve done every outing this year – had a good time and caught our limit of fish. Nothing big – no pictures taken.
09/25/2025 – Day 1 of Frank and Walt’s Trip
Fished Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara for smallmouth bass out of Buffalo, NY with Frank and Walt – in town from NJ. Once again, (see a trend yet on the bass fishing?) we had perfect conditions, crossed many fish, covered a ton of water and had lackluster results. 
09/26/2025 – Day 2 of Frank and Walt’s trip
Fished the Lake Erie for walleyes out of Hanover, NY with Frank and Walt. Having beat my head against the wall during 3 smallmouth bass sessions this week, I decided I was done targeting them until something changed. So, we went for Lake Erie gold. This year, it’s been the most rewarding bite so far. On this day, that was no different – fast limits and constant action for all. We had a blast and it more than made up for the grind the day prior. 
09/27/2025 – Day 3 of Frank and Walt’s Trip
Fished the Lower Niagara out of Lewiston, NY with Frank and Walt. Having experienced Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara in the previous days, the guys wanted to keep the scenery changing. It was a gorgeous day, and the bass came out to play. It wasn’t on fire by any stretch, but much better than my last few outings down there. Many fish caught – only a handful of nice ones though. 
09/28/2025 – Another Pot of Gold for New Clients
Fished Lake Erie for walleyes out of Hanover, NY with Jake, Jason, and Mike – new clients. The bite started off a little slower than what I’m used to – a 6 fish per hour pace. Then, for something like 30mins, we didn’t get a bite. So, I moved deeper, and we found a massive school. It didn’t take us long after that to get our box. Wild morning. 
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
I’ve been burning the candle at both ends, folks. I returned from my trip to ND very late on Sunday night and fished a full week. So, I’m not going to get too deep. Here are some notes:
Smallmouth Bass
There are plenty of smallmouth bass around – but something has them in a funk. The cause? I wish I knew, but as my buddy Hans said, “It doesn’t matter – they aren’t biting, fish to what is biting.” It’s not water temperature – the water has been warmer than it is now by a couple of degrees for the past few years. Looking back on my catch logs for this week over the past few years – it was hammer time. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I agree with Hans. Walleyes will be the target until something drastic happens to the system.
Walleyes
Lake Erie gold is still going strong. In general, the fish are deeper and not as tightly grouped as they have been all summer, but catch rates hover around 6 fish/hour with ease. There’s still a lot of bait around and the water column is stable. They’ll be around for a while – until something drastic hits the region.
Salmon/Trout
The water flowing out of the Niagara and into Lake Ontario is 69 degrees. That’s pretty freakin’ warm. I’m sure sporadic kings have ventured up the Niagara, but very few. Those that have, ran to oxygen-rich areas (rapids, the falls, etc.) to mitigate the “discomfort” of high water temperatures. Staging kings are being caught – not many though. Most of the big boat captains operating on Lake O are targeting younger salmon and steelhead.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 09/29/2025 – 10/05/2025
Forecast Commentary
If the forecast holds, we’re in for a little shock this upcoming week. Early and late week looks stable and nice. Wednesday and Thursday on the other hand, might bring some big NE winds and a 10 degree drop in daytime highs. As we’ve seen 3 times since June – when big NE winds blow through, everything changes in their wake. Anticipate a big shuffling of the deck – especially if we get another lake flip.
Will the walleyes stick around? Will the bass start firing? Will we see a push of kings into the system? There’s only one way to find out – fish every day. Thankfully, I’m booked daily this upcoming week. We’ll see how things develop.
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan