Chautauqua Angling Adventures

June 19, 2010…6:30am-12:00pm. Water temperature today was up to 72 degrees when we started. Wind was S at 5-10 mph. It was partly cloudy and T-storms were forecast for later in the day. We started with a very quick top water at Warner’s Bar the moving the Viking and Mission Meadows all with no fish. We ran to the other side of the lake above the Bell Tower fishing the 10-15 foot ledge with tubes but could get nothing to bite. We then ran to Mayville and fished some available docks using a soft stick bait and caught 6 largemouth, the biggest being a 3 ½ pounder. By now the storm clouds we starting to form so we ran back down the lake to Prendergast Point and fished some of these docks the same way. These docks were shallower and held no fish. The storms started moving in so we headed back to the ramp. By the end of the trip the water temperature had come up to 74.2 degrees and the wind had completely shifted around to the WSW and picked up considerably.
June 18, 2010…7:00am-3:00pm. Clear skies, 60 degrees and wind out of the WSW at 5-10 mph greeted us this morning. The water temperature was still low at 61.3 degrees. We started Warner’s Bar with top water and flukes but could get nothing to respond. We headed up the lake to Mission Meadows fishing tubes in 10-12 feet but could get no takers. We could see the fish suspended so we tried weightless soft stick baits also getting nothing. We ran south down the lake to Maple Bay (Smith Boys) and there caught 5 sub-legal bass, a combo of smallmouth and largemouth. All these fish were caught on soft stick baits. At least there were some signs of life. We fish shallow areas below Cheney’s Point but could only catch rock bass. We next ran across the lake to Colburn, directly in the wind and tossed spinnerbaits hoping to find an active fish. NOPE! Not convinced that we couldn’t catch those suspended fish at the upper end we ran back up the lake to the Viking. There we caught another VERY small smallmouth. We continued the drift moving closer to the weed line and caught a nice 4 ¾ pound smallmouth. We followed the weed line all the way back to Mission Meadows fish both deep and shallow and managed one very nice largemouth around 4 pounds and another small smallie to end the day.
June 12, 2010…6:00am-11:00am. This was one tough day! We had water temperatures starting at 63.4 degrees and rising to 69.7 degrees by 11 am. Winds were WSW at 5-10 mph. With these conditions catching fish should not have been a problem. We started on the Mayville flats using topwater baits, buzzbait and tiny torpedo. The only thing that took our offerings were 2 perch and a sunfish. We moved to the south shoreline and fished the weedline ledge above the Bell Tower first using a tube jig and then slow trolling worm harnesses. Both methods yielded nothing. The last stop was the weedline ledge in front of Mission Meadows and then the Viking using both the previous methods. Again these produced no fish. Talking to a few other boats we found that we were not the only one’s struggling. Nice day, no fish….Oh well, there’s always the next trip.
June 10, 2010…6:00am-11:00am. With the cold front that rolled in 2 days ago the water temperature dropped 10 degrees. It was 62.4 at 6 am. The wind was WNW and very light at the beginning. This shut the fish right down, at least for me. I could only manage one 2 ½ pound largemouth on a white fluke and two smallies on a melon pepper tube. All the fish caught came for the upper end of the lake. By the time the trip ended the water temperature had come up to 68.7 degrees. Still far from the 74 degree temps that kept the fish active. The wind picked up to the forecasted 15-25 mph by 11 am so it was off the water for me. It figures the weatherman would get it right when the forecast was bad. HA!
June 1, 2010…6:00am-2:00pm. The water temperature today started at 71.3 and ended the day at 75 degrees. The wind was W at 5 mph to start so we made the run to the Mayville flats. It was overcast and at times had a light rain. The water was clear. We fished a white fluke and a tiny torpedo. The tiny torpedo got the first strike on the 3rd cast and produced a 4 ¾ pound largemouth. From there we caught 8 more largemouth and one smallmouth on the first drift. No fish was less than 2 pounds. Most were 3-4 pounds. We made a second and third drift and picked up 3 more largemouth and lost 4. The wind increased and the fish shut down so we headed to the southwest shoreline and just kept going with the wind fishing the white fluke. By the end of the trip we had boated 7 more quality largemouth and lost 5 more. Not a bad day for a rainy, windy day.
May 29, 2010…11:00am-4:00pm. With the late day success of Wednesday we decided to try other areas in the same time frame to see if we could repeat our success. Water temperature was still 72-75 degrees but the wind was NE 10-15 mph. We headed south to fish the lower end. We first stopped below Cheney’s Point and fished the 3-5 foot shallow shoreline with no success. We moved to Maple Bay above Smith Boys Marina and found plenty of action on shallow largemouth catching 16 on that stretch. We continued our drift all the way to Lakewood Bar but only caught 2 smaller largemouth. All the fish were caught on a white fluke or a soft stickbait. By now the wind had kicked up to 15+mph giving us a very bumpy ride back to Long Point.
May 26, 2010…11:00am-3:00pm. The weather finally started to cooperate and warm things up. The water temperature was 72-74 degrees today with the wind NW at 5-10 mph. The water remains very clear at this end of the lake. The idea for the day was to see if we could catch fish later in the day. We fished the Mayville flats using a white fluke and caught only one largemouth. We moved to the bay above lighthouse Point and found several smallmouth still on beds. We caught two of those and 3 more largemouth. All were taken on the white fluke. We worked around Lighthouse Point into the next bay and caught 2 more smallies and a largemouth. The wind picked up making the fishing uncomfortable so we headed back and ended the day.
April 21, 2010…2:00pm-6:00pm. The wind was WNW 10-15 mph. The water temperature was 53.2 degrees and the water was slightly stained because of the rough water. Air temperature stayed right around 58-60 degrees. The run down the lake to Lakewood Bar was a bit cool but doable. We fished fire tiger colored crankbaits in 7-14 feet of water. Only one nice walleye and one perch took our offering. We moved down the lake to the crib and caught 2 smallies and another perch. The wind picked up putting the lake in white caps so we made the run back up the lake to Victoria point. There we dragged tubes and Gulp leeches to no avail. We did the same technique on the outside of Warner’s Bar again without a bite. Finally going behind Long Point into calmer water one more perch made it to the boat. Not the kind of day we were looking for but as I’ve always said “that why they call it fishing, not catching.”