October smallie fishing Lake Erie out of Buffalo, NY

[Dwight Hottle]

I always wanted to fish the Buffalo waters of Lake Erie so we planned to do it this fall. Flew up on Sunday & fished for 5 days during the week. We were greeted with small craft advisories & mostly 4 foot waves on day one. We could not get out to the Meyers reef area we wanted to access so we fished 2 or 3 spots closer to the ramp in the main lake. Tried blade baits but could not get bit. We ended fishing drop shots & dragging tubes. Most bites were on the drop shot but the bigger fish came on the tubes. We needed 1/2 & 3/4 oz weights to stay in contact with the bottom while drifting. Same with the tube weights. We caught numbers but only up to 4+lbs. Target depths were 30 to 40 fow. Same for day 2. Day three was so bad we could only fish the upper Niagara river because the wind was howling. We used jerkbaits & drop shot rigs & fought wind blown weeds all day. We did manage to catch some smallies with the big fish at 4.5 lbs. Thursday we still had wind & waves but not as bad so we could go where we wanted and the wind/waves played down as the day progressed. We got much better numbers & size. Capt Joe Fonzi caught a 6-15 & Rob & I each got a 5.5lber. Very good day with lots of marks all on bottom in 35-40 fow. The last day was forecasted to get very windy by noon. We slowly ran back out which took almost an hour. We caught fish up to 5.5lbs then had to quit early because it was building. By the time we were approaching the harbor it was solid 6 footers with some rogue 8s mixed in. We fished out of a 22 foot ranger 622FS Pro with a 400 verado & 15hp kicker. Very good boat for the great lakes in that class except for the swells that come over the stern corners. 

 

[A-Jay]

Nicely Done with some Great Smallies. 

For folks who have never 'fished' in those conditions,

that big water gets wildly brutal.

To get any bites at all is a testament to ones determination, grit and pure love of the sport.

Helps to be just a little bit crazy too.

Congrats Sir.

A-Jay

 

 

 

[gim]

I hope to go smallmouth fishing on Friday.  I have not targeted brown bass on the big lake since early June.  The wind says south at 12 mph so I am hoping it's manageable.

[J Francho]

Man I love it there this time of year. It can be brutal. Nice job!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Some of you folks on this forum live an incredibly blessed fishing life.....5 straight days of SM fishing on Erie, that's a bucket list trip for sure.   

 

Beautiful fish!   I've never fished up north for Bass, sounds like fishing in the Gulf which I have done a ton of.    You get back on shore and for hours you feel like you're still on the water.   

[Swamp Girl]

10 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You get back on shore and for hours you feel like you're still on the water. 

 

I soooo know this feeling. Whitewater kayaking, canoeing, and rafting produce the same sensation. 

 

Dwight is always so wise, helpful, and encouraging, so watching him catch big bass makes my smile even wider. 

[TnRiver46]

Awesome trip, report, and photos

 

good thing you didn’t fire your guide for fishing 🤣 

[Dwight Hottle]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Awesome trip, report, and photos

 

good thing you didn’t fire your guide for fishing 🤣 

Not my favorite practice once the bite is established but I knew going in he fished. If I had fired him I would be stuck on shore lol. 

[TnRiver46]

You’d probably catch 5 lb SMB from shore with a DD rogue 

[pdxfisher]

That is some awesome fishing! I love how on the first day you sound apologetic over only catching some 4lbers! It sounds like an incredible fishery but I am sure that most folks don't see those kinds of results. Congrats on a great trip.

[roadwarrior]