Pro bass fishing on Lake Erie
Photo by Dillan Labarbera When the B.A.S.S. Professional Bassmasters come to Western New York this weekend, they will be looking for five Lake Erie smallmouth bass each day for three days, like this one caught near Barcelona Harbor.
Forrest Fisher Photo A Bassmaster event brings visitors who need hotels, restaurants, fuel, bait, tackle, boat services and entertainment, with spending reaches well beyond Buffalo — from Dunkirk and Chautauqua County.
Photo by Dillan Labarbera When the B.A.S.S. Professional Bassmasters come to Western New York this weekend, they will be looking for five Lake Erie smallmouth bass each day for three days, like this one caught near Barcelona Harbor.
Forrest Fisher Photo A Bassmaster event brings visitors who need hotels, restaurants, fuel, bait, tackle, boat services and entertainment, with spending reaches well beyond Buffalo — from Dunkirk and Chautauqua County.
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Western New York gets three days of professional bass-fishing horsepower starting today when the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Erie presented by Battery Tender rolls into Buffalo.
The event is part of B.A.S.S. Division 1 and is a qualifying pathway toward the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers and, ultimately, the Elite Series. Forward-facing live sonar is permitted at this event.
B.A.S.S. lists a 230-boat field as the payout baseline, so up to 230 professional boats/teams are possible, although the final field can vary. The pro entry fee is $2,000 per event that supports a substantial purse. Payout is $339,940 based on 230 boats, with $51,195 to the winner. Second pays $20,478; third $15,358; places 14-30 receive $5,119. The winner also earns a berth in the 2027 Bassmaster Classic, subject to B.A.S.S. qualification requirements, perhaps the biggest prize.
It will all begin from the Buffalo Outer Harbor Public Boat Launch at Buffalo Harbor State Park, 1111 Fuhrmann Blvd., listed as the official ramp. The launch is the best public place to watch the morning launch spectacle. Expect the busiest action around safe-light/takeoff, approximately 6:30 a.m., when 200-plus bass boats firing up at once makes "morning coffee" seem rather tame. Recent B.A.S.S. Lake Erie events have used a 6:30 a.m. takeoff and 2:30 p.m. weigh-in.
For spectators, the weigh-in is likely the better viewing opportunity because anglers, fish and cameras all come together.
Where will the fish be?
The eastern Lake Erie basin is famous for heavyweight smallmouth. NYSDEC’s latest report recorded about 59,000 bass caught in 2025, with 79% of reported catch and 100% of harvest coming from the Buffalo Harbor survey area. Anglers targeting trophies will likely concentrate on rock, reefs and offshore structure in roughly 15-45 feet, with goby-eating smallmouth the primary prize. Tubes, drop-shot rigs, jig heads and other goby imitations are proven Erie staples; forward-facing sonar adds another weapon for locating suspended fish. The forward-facing sonar helps competitors "see" fish before the fish see them -- which feels a little like cheating, but it’s legal cheating in this tourney, so competitors are fine with it.
The tournament competition waters are Lake Erie, with exact boundary/Canadian-water provisions governed by the 2026 B.A.S.S. rules.
Western New York is about to get a front-row seat to one of the loudest, fastest, and most rod-bending shows in professional fishing with this event. I think of it as three days where Lake Erie turns into a high-speed smallmouth highway, complete with early-morning bass boat engine symphonies, and enough high-tech electronics to make a NASA engineer nod with approval.
Overall, this isn’t just bass fishermen buying beef jerky and gasoline -- although there will certainly be plenty of both. A comparable 2018 Buffalo tournament involving about 150 Bassmaster boats projected $836,000 in economic impact with 1,200 hotel room nights. Lake Erie fishing already generates significant economic activity: a NYSDEC study estimated $115.4 million in total economic output and 562 jobs from Lake Erie anglers.
A Bassmaster event brings visitors who need hotels, restaurants, fuel, bait, tackle, boat services and entertainment. That spending reaches well beyond Buffalo -- from Dunkirk and Chautauqua County through Erie County and the Niagara Falls area -- while national Bassmaster coverage showcases Western New York as a serious outdoor destination. Buffalo alone recorded $2.7 billion in traveler spending in Erie County in 2024, demonstrating the scale of the tourism engine these events feed.
In other words, the bass may be the stars, but the supporting cast -- hotels, marinas, restaurants, gas stations and tourism businesses up and down the New York Lake Erie shoreline will get plenty of screen time. It's serious business for Western New York.
For more info, visit https://www.bassmaster.com/tournament/2026-bassmaster-open-at-lake-erie/. In the end, the bass may be the headliners, but the real supporting cast includes just about every business that sells food, fuel, or a comfortable place to sleep after a long day on Lake Erie. If you have a chance, visit one of the weigh-ins. It's exciting.
Gotta love the outdoors.
Outdoor Calendar
Aug. 20: Southtowns walleye Association, monthly meeting, 6 p.m. doors open, 5895 Southwestern Blvd, Hamburg,
Aug. 20-22: Turtlebox Bassmaster Open, Buffalo Harbor State Park (Small Boat Harbor, Sunlife Marina), weigh-in open to public; info: 877-227-7872.
Aug. 20-22: CANCELLED. WNY Walleye Association 2026 Fall Tournament
Aug. 22: Chautauqua Lake White Perch Challenge (fishing tournament), Chautauqua Reel Bait & Tackle at Asheville Bay Marina, 25 fish basket, 6 a.m.-12 noon, $20 entry fee, kids under 12 free, shore or boat, see Mike Sperry, call 716-763-2947, register at the bait shop.
Aug. 23: Ellington Rod and Gun, "Don't Know Partner Trap League," 1045 Hagerdon Hill Rd., Ellington; Info: 716-287-3987.