Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 10/20/2025 – 10/26/2025
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: Hey, folks! The forecast unfolded as predicted. BIG winds from the SW, W, and NW, plus rain, dominated most of the week. Here’s a HUGE SHOUTOUT to those clients that were ready and willing to endure some rough conditions – all of them were rewarded. Somehow, I managed 5 days on the water and fished Lake Erie, the Upper and Lower Niagara, and Lake Ontario. Fall is in full swing – the foliage is popping, water temperatures are dropping, and the bite is steadily picking up.
Days on the water: 5
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lake Erie, Upper Niagara, Lower Niagara
What we caught: walleye, smallmouth bass, brown trout, king salmon
Tactics: drifting live bait; casting deep diving crankbaits
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
10/20/2025 – A Man of his Word…and Work Ethic
Fished the Lower Niagara with new clients, Alan and Eric. Alan REALLY wanted an opportunity to catch a king on the lower – especially with a crankbait. In our initial discussion, I let him know that the king bite isn’t what it used to be and will likely be slow. He assured me that would be OK – so long as he had chance, he’d cast incessantly until I ended the day, rain or shine. My kind of guy, but there’s a cohort of dudes out there that often make this claim yet rarely live up to it.
Fast forward to the day prior to this trip. The forecast called for BIG wind out of the NW and pissing rain all morning. It was the kind of forecast that would most assuredly keep everyone off the water. So, when I called Alan and gave him my transparency speech, “It’s gonna be brutal out there – I’m down if you are, but I’m not trying to force the day if you’d rather reschedule.” He said he’d be there with his buddy Eric, bright and early.
In short – Alan is a man of his word and work ethic. He and Eric cast their asses off and endured some brutal conditions. Both were rewarded for being bold and going for it. Oh yeah – walleyes were caught too – no pics taken – the phone came out sparingly in the rain. 
10/21/2025 – Weather Day
BIG SW winds, small craft advisories, waterspout warnings, and consistent rain kept me off the water. I hit the gym, did inventory, and planned some vacations for 2026.
10/22/2025 – Day Trip to Douglas HQ
Took a road trip with Mike Trifiletti of Riverborn Fishing Company to the Douglas Rods HQ in Phoenix, NY. I’ve been fishing Douglas Rods for the past couple years. They’re awesome rods made by a great company – based in NY too. As I mentioned above, I did inventory the day prior and decided now was the time to stock up. Both Mike and I had a couple gaps in our arsenal. So, we made the 2.5 hour drive out there so we could get our hands on their catalog of options. Money was spent lol – but I’m feeling really good about my new weapons.
10/23/2025 – Going for it
Fished a half day trip on the Lower Niagara with Olivia, Emma, and Logan, up visiting from NC. I’ve fished with Olivia, her father, and her grandfather a few times in years past – always around the week of thanksgiving. This year, they came up earlier to help with a move and just wanted to get out for a bit.
When I talked with Jack (Emma and Olivia’s father) the night prior, I let him know it might be rough due to wind and rain, but we’d catch fish if we went for it. I was happy when he decided to go for it. I was getting a little antsy after being off the water for a couple of days.
All the wind and rain from the 4 days leading up to this had the water stained and the current raging. It wasn’t a banner session by any stretch, but we had a blast and landed some tanker smallmouth. 
10/24/2025 – A Small Break in the Weather
Fished a half day trip on the Lower Niagara with new clients, Tim and Jay. The forecast called for big winds out of the NW and rain throughout the day. Fortunately – all we got was the wind. Aside from that, it was gorgeous out there.
Walleyes and smallmouth came to play – so did a nice buck brown trout. 
10/25/2025 – Finally! A Nice Day
Fished the Lower Niagara with Errol, his son, Joseph, and DeMar (Errol’s buddy). I fished with Errol and another one of his friends for the first time last winter. He’s new to angling (so is Joseph and DeMar), but super interested and eager to learn. They picked up the required skills in no time.
This was the first nice day in close to a week. Plus, a I’m sure few social media addicts made the greater angling community believe that there were a ton of lakers and browns in the system already. Well, there aren’t – but the crowds would’ve made you think we were in the middle of November. I stayed away from the horde as often as possible. Solid session. 
10/26/2025 – My Happy Place
Fished Lake Erie and the upper Niagara for smallmouth bass with Justin, Jeff, and Joe. I was excited when they said they wanted to fish smallmouth in any location of my choosing. I hadn’t been on Erie in over a week – same goes for the Upper Niagara. It was time to change that.
We started on the lake – much to my dismay, it was crowded. We boated a few biggies right away then the bite died for a bit. Sadly, the crowds grew. So, I decided to get out of there and find a place in the river where nobody was fishing. I did – and we hammered. I needed that badly. How I’ve missed Upper Niagara jaws. 
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
For the third week in a row, I spent most of my time on the lower Niagara – the wind kept me down there. However, I was able to poke around once on Erie. Not much has changed since my last report, but here are a couple of notes:
- I’m sure some of the smaller Lake Ontario tribs still have some salmon left in them, but most are zombies or carcasses at this point.
- The water temperature dropped a couple more degrees this past week. As of this writing, the river is flowing around 60 degrees. For reference – it’s been 60 degrees on this date 4 of the past 5 years.
- I’m rarely, if ever, on social media these days. However, a few of my colleagues have told me about shore anglers and a couple of rec boat anglers posting photos of trout getting caught in the lower. There are some trout around, but it’s by no means loaded. Drop a crowd of boats on a sparse population and see how fast the bite turns off. Bottom line on trout – it’s still SUPER early. I’m not at all stoked about the amount of pressure I’ve seen in the last few outings. It’s setting up to be a zooey fall down there.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 10/27/2025 – 11/02/2025
It looks like there’s a long period of stability coming up. Light to moderate east winds are supposed to dominate the forecast for the front half of the week. That’ll lead to some big waves on Ontario, nothing much on Lake Erie, sunny days, and chilly temperatures. The weekend forecast, which is too far out to trust at this point, looks chaotic. If it holds, rain and big wind from a couple of different directions will pose problems.
I’m booked daily and will likely execute all my trips on the docket. I’ll spend a couple of those days on the lower, but most of my week will be on Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara chasing smallies and walleyes. I’m looking forward to changing it up a bit. Stay tuned!
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan
NOTICE: I’ll remind folks of this for the next couple weeks – My spring calendar is already HEAVILY booked. I’m not sure how/why it happened so early this year, but a lot of folks have been proactive and reaching out well in advance of the season to book a prime date. If you’re interested in experiencing spring insanity and want to ensure you have a date, please get in touch soon.