Fresh Tifft Nature Preserve Fishing Reports

Abby surprised her fiancé, now husband, Bryce, with a smallmouth trip for Christmas. Turns out both of them are accomplished anglers. Even on a slow bite they managed a 20 fish day! Caught em deep, caught em shallow, caught em in between. Super nice young people with strong family values. I antipate them staying together a long time! Great day on the big lake!

The last week of May 2025 was a wild ride on the waters of the Buffalo Niagara Region. It was a week filled with challenging conditions, memorable moments, and a mix of fishing fortunes. From a grind on Memorial Day to a thrilling ride through crashing waves on the Upper Niagara where an 8-year-old outfished everyone, each trip brought its own story. Slow days tested patience with young anglers, while veterans and college-aged crews brought lively conversations and decent catches. Some massive winds over the weekend kept me off the water/provided opportunities to rest. Here’s a glimpse into the highs, lows, and everything in between from a week of chasing fish and making memories. Seasonal Assessment/General Observations Smallmouth in Spawn Mode: Keep it Moving The smallmouth bass are almost entirely in spawn mode – hence all the smaller fish you likely noticed in the photos. The water is still chilly (Lake Erie June Temperatures Buffalo), but right in the sweet spot for them to get their “spawn on.” As I mentioned in last week’s report, if you target bass right now, you’re going to catch some spawners whether you’re trying to or not. Please, do something like what I do – cover a lot of ground/don’t soak areas. Let them breed with as little interruption as possible. Here’s an example of what not to do: for 2 days in a row, I watched 2 bass boats from West Virginia spot lock in a small nook on the lower Niagara for hours each day. By a small nook, I mean an area no bigger than 40 sq ft…and they stayed there for hours…both days. I drifted past them a couple times. Then I fished downriver for a while. Then I came back upriver to take the boat out of the water – they were still there. Please, don’t do this. It’s super greedy/gluttonous. The main counter to my position is that people really want to catch fish. Those WV boys trailered their boat all the way up here – they’re likely thinking that they’re gonna do what it takes to bend a rod. My response? Sorry, it sucks that you planned your trip here when you did. Play the hand you’re dealt – cover water and stop beating up on the same fish over and over and over. Transition Time With the bass on beds, my program for the next few weeks will incorporate a mix of activities. Walleyes are starting to show up more often – so I’ll spend part of the beginning of nearly every session targeting them. They aren’t schooled up in our basin by any means. However, there are enough around on structure that you can catch a “family fish fry” worth in a morning before transitioning to bass fishing for a bit. Following my big humbling on Lake Ontario this past Monday, I need some revenge. By all counts, the coho bite out there has been excellent with more and more kings showing up. I’ll get that dialed this week – and it’ll become part of the weekly plan until the big schools of walleyes make their way into NY waters. Fingers crossed – we’ll start seeing that happen in a couple weeks.

Dillion is going back home to South Carolina, bringing with him the memory of his personal best smallmouth bass catch, a notable 6lbs 1oz.

Sandy and Todd came up on vacation from SW Louisiana. Struggled through a tough early bite, changed tactics, put their prior fishing skills to use and made it a great day! Many quality fish including both getting their personal best smallmouth and near the very end of the trip, Sandy decided to catch dinner and nailed this beautiful walleye. Her first one ever! Great peiple make what i do very rewarding.

Walleye night bite is on fire.

Perch are becoming more prevalent as the ice has cleared out of Lake Eries’ eastern basin. Perch are in small packs ( not big schools so far) but the bite is aggressive when you find them. We just need the weather to cooperate a bit, so we can get out to test the bite.