Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Observations from 12/02/2024 – 12/08/2024
Here’s our latest Buffalo NY fishing report: Below freezing temperatures, lots of snow, huge wind, and in turn, poor water clarity hurt the prospect of fishing very much this past week. Still, I managed to get on the water 3 days this past week and every session was productive. I’m not going to sugar coat it, we froze, and Mother Nature had her way with us. However, we endured and made it happen. Thankfully, it looks like were past the rough weather…for now. Keep reading for more details.
Days on the water: 3
Who we fished with: friends/clients
Where we fished: Lower Niagara
What we caught: smallmouth bass, lake trout, steelhead, brown trout
Tactics: drifting bait, jigging bucktails, swimbaits, and blade baits, casting crank baits, drifting beads, pulling plugs
Detailed Reporting/Daily Observations
12/02/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara with my friend, Ron. It was a short recon session to get some reps in and hang out with a fishing buddy I haven’t seen in a while. Fish were caught and good times had. Didn’t take very many pics – we checked in on all the major zones and caught fish everywhere. 
12/03/2024 – Huge wind, frigid temps, snow – rescheduled the trip.
12/04/2024 – Huge wind, frigid temps, snow – rescheduled the trip.
12/05/2024 – Huge wind, frigid temps, snow – rescheduled the trip.
12/06/2024 – Rescheduled my trip due to what was supposed to be frigid temps and big wind out of the NW. It was certainly cold (low 20s), but the wind didn’t show up until late in the day. We couldv’ve fished, but we would have froze our assess off.
12/07/2024 – Got in some reps on the Lower Niagara out of Lewiston, NY with Jordan. We had marginal water clarity (at best), but the wind wasn’t much of a factor so we decided to go for it. We didn’t hammer, but we caught fish everywhere we went. We called it early when the snow showed up.
12/08/2024 – Fished the Lower Niagara out of Lewiston, NY with Greg and Tanner up from OH. These guys have fished with me for years and often through some rough conditions. Big wind out of the SW kicked up waves over 11’ on Lake Erie the night prior. The boys new this was going to happen before they made the trip – but wanted to go for it anyway.
Luckily, when we started, the water clarity was OK. In other words, the damage from the night prior hadn’t made its way down to the lower at that point. We capitalized on that opportunity and had a strong session with brown trout.
After catching MANY, we went upstream in pursuit of a trout slam…and slammed into muddy water. We managed one walleye, and no trout. I can’t explain that one – a few boats around us caught a fish here and there. Not us. It happens sometimes. Thankfully we had an awesome morning.
Seasonal Assessment/General Observations
There’s not a lot to get deep about this week, folks. At minimum, I guess I can say that it never ceases to amaze me how much action you can get in our region even when you’re facing poor conditions. A different way of saying it is that if you have the gear to keep you comfortable, or a high threshold for pain, and you decide to go out in crappy conditions, something cool will happen…maybe even many times. Here are some general observations:
- At its clearest this past week, the water had a couple feet of visibility. I was surprised how many fish we caught though that. It’s got me re-thinking my threshold for “good enough” water clarity.
- Every female trout I boated this past week already dropped her eggs.
- The lake trout and steelhead I landed were all caught on beads. However, the bass and browns we landed were caught on minnows and swim baits. Bottom line, if you want to match the hatch, eggs are starting to get sparse, and the trout want to eat meat to recover from the spawn. It’s time to vary your baits between beads and bait fish if you aren’t doing so already.
- There are still plenty of fish in the Lower Niagara, but the bar is likely to start shining very soon. It’s been tough to verify that of late – there have been waves over 4’ out there near daily.
- The water temperature as of this writing is 43 degrees: Lake Temperatures. All that wind, snow, and those below freezing temperatures this past week dropped the water by 3 degrees. It’s now in line with the historical average/it’s been warmer in recent years. I’ll say this much – the predators want to gorge on minnows every chance they can get when the water gets this cold.
- I miss Lake Erie – but there were exactly zero days I could’ve fished it this past week. Mark my words – I’ll get back out there before the New Year.
Buffalo NY Fishing Report – Forecast for 12/09/2024 – 12/16/2024
Forecast Commentary
It’s been a while, but if the forecast for this upcoming week holds, there will be a lot of fishable days. Big wind and rain are supposed to show up here and there, but nothing unmanageable. I’m optimistic I’ll be able to execute every trip on the docket.
Lake Erie is a possibility, but I’ll likely spend every day this upcoming week on the Lower Niagara. If the forecast holds, the bar will be part of the program. Fingers crossed fish are starting to stack up out there. Only one way to find out!
It also looks like we won’t have to endure frigid temperatures much. Daytime highs are supposed to be in the upper 30s and low 40s throughout. That’s more of the norm for this time of year. Hopefully, those conditions will stick around for a while.
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan