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I took a half-day off work and Chautauqua Lake was good to me this afternoon. I landed a pair of nice fish from Bemus Bay on a previously virgin Golden Shiner Musky Shad Rap. I’ve always had faith in that plug, witnessed by the fact that I had it on, and it came through.
The first, about 3:15, right out from the north corner of the Bemus Ferry Landing, was a healthy 43 incher that jumped twice and the second, at 5:45, was 36 inches and came just east of the boat launch at Long Point. That plug runs about 11 or 12 feet deep at 3.2 – 3.4 M.P.H. and both fish were up tight to sharper breaks. The surface temp is 55 º and the wind was SSW at about 15. The flags were out and waving without being stiff.
I spent the whole time zigzagging back and forth between 12 and 20 feet where the weeds USED to be. I also criss-crossed Tom’s Point many times in various directions but couldn’t pull anything off there. To break the monotony I made several drifts over the breaks on Victoria shoal tossing Suicks and crank baits and even drifted a Bulldawg but couldn’t pull anything off’n it either. There are still some weeds in the shallower reaches of the shoal in water less than 6 feet.
I marked fish and bait all over the place and noted several boats drifting for Walleyes. Oh, and wouldn’t you know, I ran out of film on the first fish. I took too many pix of the new grandson on Saturday night. He’s just a month old today. That reminds me, I caught my first 50 incher on my wife’s birthday – June 24, 1978. [8)] | |
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The following appears on the NYSDEC's web site under a report on Chautauqua Lake.
Muskellunge
Chautauqua Lake is recognized as a premiere muskellunge fishery. Many fish in the 40-50 inch class are caught each year. The minimum size limit for musky in Chautauqua is 40 inches.
While anglers use a variety of methods to catch muskies, two proven techniques are trolling and casting in the shallow weedy bays. Trolling is generally more effective, but requires specialized techniques and experience. Artificial lures that imitate injured baitfish often trigger aggressive strikes by muskellunge. Anglers catch muskies in a variety of locations.
If you are interested in only the largest musky, a recent radio tracking study in Chautauqua Lake showed the largest fish spent most of their time suspended over deep water rather than associated with structure. Smaller to moderate sized musky were normally associated with structure such as weed lines and drop offs. DEC surveys indicate a healthy musky population that has rebounded from declines in the early 1990's. More than 75% of the musky handled in the DEC trap nets result from fingerlings stocked by the NYS-DEC Musky Hatchery at Prendergast Point.
I'm going to try to find out more about the "radio tracking" Musky study.
Pat Corey
[email protected] | |
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CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (Bemus Bay)