Visiting Chautauqua on Thursday

[weave]

Will be at Chautauqua Thursday through Monday. Staying at Pine Hill cottages across the lake from Long Point. I’m bringing along my fishing kayak. I’m hoping the get some advice for fishing in the immediate area. Walleyes would be nice but if preferred fishing areas aren’t in reasonable paddle distance, perch and panfish are OK.

 

Any info that gets me started is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

 

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[mr 580]

Drift with worm harness just outside weedline for walleyes.  I had customers get 7 keepers this morning in that area.  You should be in 14 to 15 fow.  Hope that works for you.

[weave]

Thanks for the info.  Greatly appreciated.

[Stillwater]

I fished Chautauqua Lake for the first time yesterday (Tuesday 6/26) with my daughter. We got there around 3 pm and launched out of Long Point State Park. Having read up a little from last years walleye reports and some of the fishing reports this year we started out drifting worm harnesses on light bottom bouncers in front of Prendergast Point at varying depths. South west wind wasn't bad. Caught a lot of small yellow perch and no eyes. Did see some better marks that I think were eyes. After a couple hours of this we decided to troll with sticks heading north to the bell tower. Covered plenty of good looking water but no takers. Another troller heading the opposite direction said he caught one. Turned around and trolled back to Prendergast area. No takers. Fished until dark and motored back toward Long Point. Stopped to troll in front of the State Park beach house and called it quits when we lost a Rapala on a snag. We enjoyed the lake and felt like it will be worth a return trip. About the same distance as heading to Oneida Lake for us. 

[weave]

Thanks for the report. I’ll be out in the AM to give it a go.


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[weave]

Stillwater, I had similar results early this morning. Fished from dawn until about 8. Worked 14-18 ft of water in the Long Point area. Perch cooperated, walleye did not. Like you, I was also marking fish occasionally that didn’t seem interested. Tomorrow morning I’ll change things up a bit.


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[Stillwater]

Good luck on your next attempt. Thanks for the report.

In some of the reading I have been doing on old fishing reports and from what I could actually see when I was on the water it looks like a lot of people come out to fish for eyes around 8 pm and set up in good places to jig for them. They fish well past sunset for them both jigging and trolling. 

I bet that the full moon looked great there last night. Should help the eye fishing. 

[mr 580]

Full moon can slow down daytime fishing but there are still fish to be caught.  I have success along the weed edge and do see that even the width of the boat can decide on how many strikes you get.  Sometimes you have to move around to find active fish.  Starting at first light does help, but there are fish later.  My Tuesday trip started at eight and we had a pretty steady morning until we stopped around 1pm.  When I'm on fish I usually am seeing them on my electronics.     

[Stillwater]

Good tips Mr 580... you must know that lake like the back of your hand. Do you ever target deeper water during the day or mainly the weed edges like you described?

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[mr 580]

My style (there are lots of other ways that work too) is to weedline fish until that bite fades as water warms.  I’ve had weedline daytime fish since season opened this year.  The way I work the weedline lets less experienced people get eyes. Later I jig and toss vibie’s in open water staying with rod in hand techniques.  On Chautauqua I don’t usually open water troll as I do plenty of that on Lake Erie in my Proline.

[Stillwater]

What is a vibie? Is it a Sonar or Blade bait with a rattle in it? Thanks. Do you use any bucktail hair jigs. I use them on Oneida and St. Lawrence River. They would probably work well on deeper Chaut. fish?

[weave]

One of the difficulties I’ve had here is positively identifying the weedline. On my depth finder it appears to me that there isn’t a sudden change from weeds to no weeds. More of a tapering off as the depth increases from about 14-18 ft. I’ve been concentrating on the deeper end of that range to avoid the annoyance of frequently cleaning weeds from my line, but maybe I need to get right in there and expect to deal with weeds?


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[mr 580]

Been busy running trips-Stillwater a vibie is similar to a sonar.  Water clarity on Chautauqua can be an issue so the vibration seems to work here.  Weave bumping the weeds helps and you need to make your presentation as weedless  as possible.  Afraid pulling some weeds is part of the deal here.  Being able to see the weeds on electronics is important-where you put your lure is critical.

[weave]

Thanks for all of the info mr 580.  You did give me a starting point that gave me some confidence.

Our trip ended this morning.  I never did find walleye, but I suspect I didn't spend enough time in tight to the dense weeds.  I did lose two fish that felt heavy enough to be walleyes.  Mostly I had small perch stealing my bait.  And I caught a couple bass as well.  I do have a depth finder on my kayak so I was able to monitor weeds and depth.  I did occassionally mark fish that I suspect were walleyes.

This was my first time fishing the lake in many years.  I used to fish Chautauqua frequently with my dad as a kid, but that was a long time ago.  And I was fishing from a kayak so my travel distance was a bit limited.  First season on the yak, and first time with it in bigger water.  I didn't want to stray too far from home base, and crossing the lake was...... intimidating, especially with a near holiday boat crowd.  I worked about a 1/2 mile stretch in front of our cottage, across the lake from Long Point.  That area seemed to be worked mostly by musky anglers so I may not have been in the most productive waters too.

 

We're likely going back in the Fall.  I'll give it another shot.

Edited July 3, 2018 by weave