Chautauqua Angling Adventures

October 24, 2008…7:30am-2:00pm We spent the day filming a TV show for Centre Sportsman based in State College PA. The air temperature was a cold, damp 43 degrees. The water temperature started at 48.7 degrees and rose to 52.3 degrees by mid-day. The primary target for the show was muskie but we wanted a mixed bag so we started at the south end of the lake below Lakewood for some big smallmouth. We managed to boat two, a 4.2 and a 5.1. Now the search turned to the muskie. We moved to the Sheldon Hall shoreline and had one follow a white spinnerbait. We could not get this fish or any others to bite there so we moved up the lake to Warner’s Bar. We drifted the weed line casting the white spinnerbait and a black/red in–line spinner with a silver Colorado blade. We also used a melon pepper tube jig to check for smallies but nothing worked there. We moved up to Midway and worked the ledge there for smallmouth and low and behold a muskie chased the tube right to the boat but wouldn’t bite. We switched back to the spinnerbait and a black/blue jig. Within 15 minutes we hooked and boated a nice 36 inch muskie. We continued up the weed line but could get no more strikes or follows. We headed up the lake to the Bell Tower and fished above the point to help shield us from the now 20 mph south wind. Not too far up the drift we caught a 5.6 pound walleye. With the wind blowing hard and cold we called it a wrap and headed home to a warm house and meal since we met our goal of a muskie and a mixed bag.
October 15, 2008…7:30am-2:30pm The water temperature was 58.2 degrees, wind S at 5 mph and dense fog. Air temperature was 43 degrees. It took a GPS guided trip to get from Long PointState Park to Stoney Point at the south end of the lake. Once there the fog opened up a bit. We fished 7 foot deep water on an underwater rock strip using green pumpkin and melon pepper tube jigs. We only caught one smallmouth bass but it was a dandy! It weighed in at 6 pounds 2 oz on the Berkley digital scale. We fished around that area for an hour with no other luck so we moved over to Sheldon Hall and fished some rock piles with no success. We moved to Lakewood Beach with no luck. We then headed back north to Warner’s Bar and fished the entire length of the weed line in front of the beach house again with no success. We moved further north above the Bell Tower where we caught 4 more smallmouth, a 5.3, two 4’s and a 3 ½, while losing 2 more that we never saw. We finished at Mission Meadows with no more fish. By the end of the trip the water temperature had warmed to 61.7 degrees.
October 12, 2008...7:30am-12:00 pm Today’s water temperature was 58.4 degrees. The wind was forecast to be WNW but stayed SW less than 5 mph all morning. WOW! Don’t you wish you could be as wrong at your job as they are calling the weather? AND still get paid!!!!! So, with the bad luck 2 days ago we ran south to Stoney Point. There we caught 4 smallmouth right where they were suppose to be. Imagine that! The biggest was 5.1 pounds. All were caught on a melon pepper tube in 7 feet. The bite was slow but the wait was worth it. The smallest fish was 3.4 pounds. With the water temperature cooling down the smallmouth fish should really start to pick up. The remainder of this month should be great.
October 10, 2008…7:30am-2:00pm The water temperature continues to cool down. It was 60.2 degrees with an air temperature of 47 degrees. The wind was SSW at 5-10 mph. There was a thick fog until 9am then clear blue sky and sunshine for the rest of the trip. We started at Warner’s Bar fishing the outside weed line with tubes and dropshot rigs using Gulp leeches and minnows. We could only manage 3 perch. Once the fog lifted we did the same thing at Mission Meadows where we caught 2 more perch and a small smallmouth. We moved to the south end of the lake to Lakewood Bar and Greenhurst Point but had no success. We moved to the inside weed line and the few remaining docks in Sherman Bay and lost 2 small largemouth on Venom Salty Slings. For such a beautiful day it was a tough day of fishing.
September 22, 2008…6:30am-12:30pm With cooler nights the water temperature is beginning to drop. It was 67.4 degrees today. The air temperature was 53 degrees and the wind was NE at 5 – 10 mph. We started on the Mayville weed line using dropshot rigs, spooks and rattle traps. We could only get one smallmouth to follow the rattle trap. We moved to Hartfield Bay and fished the scattered weeds. Largemouth were cruising through the area but would not take anything we offered. Checking the Viking and Warner’s Bar we came up empty again. We made a run south to Greenhurst Point and fished some submerged rock piles and pilings. We hooked up on 3 lagemouth and one nice smallmouth. All were caught on a soft stickbait rigged weightless. We moved to Stony Point and fished 2 docks on the point. We caught one fish on each dock. Both were largemouth around 2 ¾ to 3 pounds.
September 14, 2008…6:30am-12:30pm This was a muskie trip. The temperature was 70 degrees and the wind was SW at 8-10 mph. But by 8:00 am it had built up to WSW 15-20 mph. The water temperature was 68.4 degrees. We made stops at Lighthouse Point, the Bell Tower, Mayville, Dewittville, and Mission Meadows casting inline Mepps spinners, Little Hustler big spinnerbaits, crankbaits and using a black/blue jig. The these spots produced absolutely nothing….Not even a follow up. We then moved to the point south of Midway Park where we caught a nice 33-35 inch muskie on the black/blue jig. The fish was on the outside weed edge in 9 feet of water. That proved to be the only cooperative fish for the trip.
September 7, 2008…6:30am-1:00pm It turned out to be a tough day. We had a 56 degree air temperature and a total fog-in to start the day. A slow GPS guided travel to the Viking took close to 45 minutes. The wind was light from the south so we drifted up the ledge on the outside of the weeds dragging tubes. We only managed one 2 pound smallmouth. Once the fog lifted some we moved up to Mission Meadows and used an increased south wind to drift us along that weedline with no results. With the wind blowing close to 15 mph we moved to the southwest shoreline and fished some docks below Prendergast Point. With no fish activity and the wind still interfering with the fishing we ran south to Greenhurst Point where again we came up empty. We moved up the lake one bay and fished the docks there. We caught two nice largemouth in this area. Next we ran to Ashville Bay and caught 3 more largemouth. With the forecasted rain storms appearing to roll in we ended the trip.
September 1, 2008…7:00am-10:30pm 52 degree air temperature and 68 degree water temperature caused a slight fog this morning. The wind was south at 5 mph. We started at Warner’s Bar fishing a melon pepper tube for smallmouth. The bite was slow but we managed 3 smallies in about an hour. We left there and ran to Mayville. There we fished depths of 10-18 feet. The wind was still from the south so we drifted and dragged the tubes up the drop toward the weed line. Only panfish bites on the drift so we made casts parallel to the weed line but still no luck. We fished the docks in Hartfield Bay and in Prendergast Bay boating one 2 ¾ pound largemouth. We ended by drifting Magnolia Bay casting a Texas rigged soft stickbait over the weedbed. No luck there so we headed in.
August 29, 2008…7:30am-12:30pm It was 61 degrees, overcast and the wind was from the south at 5 mph. The forecast was for rain showers by noon. The water temperature was 71.4 degrees. We started on Warner’s Bar fishing tube jigs for smallmouth bass. We fished the entire weed line out to 16 feet but could only manage one hook up and lost fished. We moved up the lake to Mission Meadows and drifted the 200 yard length of the weed line dragging tubes but had no luck. We switched tactics and ran up to Mayville fishing some docks. There we caught 3 largemouth bass. We used soft stickbaits skipped under the docks. The biggest fish was about 2 ½ pounds. The wind picked up to 8-10 mph so we moved to some sheltered docks above Prendergast Point but had no luck there either. We tried docks below Midway Park with the same results. Going back to the deeper water we drifted and dragged the Viking weed line but came up empty again. It turned out to be a very tough day for fishing but the weatherman was definitely wrong because we didn’t get rained on.
August 24, 2008… 8:30am-1:30pm We had a south wind, partly cloudy and 68 degrees to start the morning. We began at Lighthouse Point casting for muskie. We used in-line spinners, black with a silver Colorado blade and black with a red blade. Both had worm black trailers. We saw a boat of bass fisherman jigging the weeds. They said that for two days they had muskies hitting the jigs. After one drift along the weed line with no success we switched to jigs and moved into the weed bed. We could not get a bite along the whole distance. We moved up to the big weed bed in Mayville and worked the outside edge of that weed bed but no muskie, but did get one smallmouth to bite a tube jig. We jigged those weeds also for a short time and got nothing. Needing a break from throwing the big baits we moved into the docks at Mayville and caught 3 largemouth using a Venom Salty Sling. Next we went to the Chautauqua Marina and caught 3 more largemouth. Sticking with the dock bite we moved to Hartfield Bay caught one more largemouth. We fished the Viking weed line for both muskie and smallmouth but got nothing. The wind was really kicking up the lake and so we ended with one drift at Magnolia Bay with no luck.
August 18, 2008…7:30am-12:30pm The wind was SW at 5-10 mph and was forecast to pick up to 15-20 mph from the WSW. Strangely enough The weatherman guessed right again. By the end of the trip in was right on the money. The water temperature was 75.2 degrees and the air temperature was 83 degrees. We began on Warner’s Bar fishing tubes and caught a largemouth, a smallmouth and two silver bass. There was a lot of baitfish in the area just inside the weeds. We stayed and fished the area until the bait moved out. We moved to the Viking area and caught 3 more smallmouth still using tubes. After two drifts with no more success we moved across the lake to an area above the Prendergast launch. We caught 2 small largemouth there on Gulp Sinking Minnows. As the wind picked up we went back to the Viking and drifted and dragged tubes over the point catching one more smallmouth. As the wind continued to blow harder we struggled to find fishable areas and spent the last 45 minutes fishing the wind and catching nothing.
August 13, 2008…7:00am-12:00pm Another light wind, hot day greeted us. The water temperature stayed right around 75 degrees. The wind was light from the NW and the temperature was 73 degrees. We fished the Viking area from 12-15 feet and caught 2 dinky smallmouth using tubes. Then we moved to Mayville and fished the docks in the marina. There we caught 4 largemouth. We ran across to Hartfield Bay and fished those docks and caught 11 largemouth. The biggest was 2+ pounds. All these fish were caught on a soft stickbait skipped to the back of the docks.
August 12, 2008…6:00am-11:30am. And then 4:00 pm – 9 pm The water temperature was 75.2 degrees and the air temperature was 72 degrees. This was going to be a hot day. This was a double charter day. The wind started out as a light NW breeze. We fished the deep weed edge at the very north end of the lake using tube jigs, flukes and crankbaits but could only manage one small largemouth. We moved into the north docks and used soft stickbaits and caught 4 largemouth, nothing bigger than 2 pounds. The wind shifted to a more northerly direction and picked up to 5-10 mph so we moved to the Hartfield Bay shoreline and caught 3 more largemouth off those docks. We drifted and dragged a tube jig along the Dewittville weed edge but didn’t get a bite. That ended that trip. Returning to the water at 4 pm we were greeted by an already forecasted 15-20 NW wind. Now who would have guessed that the weatherman would be right? The air temperature increased to 82 degrees. We fished Victoria Point from 10-20 feet depths. We graphed the fish but none would bite. We moved into Magnolia Bay where the weeds were below the surface in 7–8 feet using wacky rigged Senkos we caught no fish again. We ran South below the bridge to Maple Bay and fish some semi protected docks. There we caught 3 largemouth, but nothing bigger than 1 ½ pounds. We ran across to Sheldon Hall and fished the wacky Senkos again and caught 2 more small largemouth. Working our way back up the lake we stopped along the Colburn shoreline and fished small grubs rigged on a 1/16 jighead for perch but caught none. Running back up to the bridge to fish the pilings we found silver bass chasing minnows. We used the small jigs and grubs and caught them and a few perch and one crappie.
July 27, 2008…6:00am-1:30pm. The early morning temperature was 61 degrees and the water temperature was 74.3 degrees. The wind was less than 5 mph from the SW. We started the day on Warner’s Bar fishing the deep weed edge for smallmouth and/or walleye. After 40 minutes of no bites other than pan fish we moved to the Viking and did basically the same thing with exactly the same results. We moved to the Mayville area and looked shallow, fishing docks. There we found plenty of largemouth. We used soft stick baits on spinning tackle to boat 16 largies throughout the day. There was nothing of any size but still fun to catch. By late in the trip the wind had switched to the west 10-15 mph but we were done so it was of no significance.
July 11, 2008…6:00am-10:30pm. The temperature was 64 degrees and the water temperature was 72.5 degrees. The wind was 5-10 mph from the SW. This was a scouting trip for a tournament the next day so catching very many fish was out of the question. We checked the docks below Shore Acres first. Three docks down we caught a nice 2 ½ pound largemouth so up came the trolling motor and we moved. We ran across the lake to Cheney’s Point and fished the docks above the point. Again within a few docks we caught another nice keeper and decided that those should be left alone. With Largemouth located we ran up the lake to Warner’s Bar. We fished the deep weed line parallel to the bar and on the first cast caught a 4 pound smallmouth. Unfortunately there were two other boats there and saw the fish being caught. We moved again to the Lutheran Camp and fished that weed line and the 12 ft ledge. We caught 2 small smallmouth and then left there. We ran north to Mayville and checked the docks along the top of the lake but caught nothing. Baits for the day were a Green Pumpkin Gulp Sinking Minnow, A melon pepper tube and a Berkley smoke colored Heavy Weight.
July 2, 2008…6:00am-1:30pm. What a difference 2 days and no rain makes! When we started the temperature was 58 degrees, the wind was N at 5 mph and the water temperature was 67.4 degrees. We made the run south to Greenhurst Point and fished pilings and rock piles using a smoke color senko type bait. The first fish was a 5 ¼ pound smallmouth. We caught 3 largemouth and another smallie before the spot died out. Next we moved across the lake to Stoney Point and fished the entire length of the shallow rocky shoal without a bite. At the end of the shoal we fished a big dock and caught two more largemouth. With that success we decided to move in and fish the docks along the inside of the shoal back to the north. We caught one more largemouth. The next stop was Maple Bay, fishing the south shoreline where we caught another largemouth. By this time the wind had switched to the SW at 7-10 mph so we moved up the lake to Prendergast Point fishing the docks above and below the point. We caught 9 more largemouth and one more 4 pound smallmouth for a grand total of 19 for the day. All of the bass were caught on the same bait, the smoke colored soft stickbait rigged Texas style to keep it weedless. By the end of the trip the air temperature had risen to 79 degrees but the water temperature only increased to 69.2 degrees.
June 30, 2008…6:30am-1:30pm This trip was to film a TV show, WNY Sportsman Magazine. The air temperature was 59 degrees with the wind from the S at 5-10 mph. Rain clouds were all around us and at times we got a light sprinkle. The water temperature in depths of 12+ was 65-67 degrees which meant that it had dropped 8 degrees from last weeks 73 degrees. The strange part was in the shallow (less than 5 ft) area where we started the temperature was a very low 47 degrees. This was on the Victoria Point’s rocky shoal. We worked it with a buzzbait, a white fluke and a Berkley Gulp 4” sinking minnow with no success. We moved out to the weed edge and fished a 100 yd stretch using tube jigs, also with no success. Next we moved to the outside of Warner’s Bar, again with nothing. Other people fishing that area were having the same “no luck”. We moved to the Viking and gave that area about 30 minutes and having the same results decided to move again. By now we’re thinking all these fish are camera shy. It was time to change tactics so we ran south Greenhurst Point and fished some submerged rock piles and pilings. Using a Venom Salty Sling and a Berkley Gulp sinking minnow, fished weightless, FINALLY we put 2 small largemouth in the boat. We next moved to Maple Bay and fished docks on the south shoreline. We caught 2 more largemouth, one that was 2 ¾ pounds. There we heavy rain clouds coming over the trees so we picked up and moved north to the docks above Cheney’s Point. We were able to fish those for about 20 minutes and catch one small largemouth before the rain drove us to the bridge where we waited out the heavy rain storm fishing the pilings. The only luck we had there was that we stayed dry. Once the rain stopped we moved over to Colburn and fished those docks. We caught 3 largemouth with the biggest a 3 ½ pounder. All the fish caught on the docks were either in the boatlifts or 2 to 3 dock sections back. Everything was shallow, 3 ft or less. In most cases the water was still pretty clear considering all the rain that we’ve had.
June 23, 2008…4:30pm-9:00pm We had to wait out a very bad T-storm in the parking lot today before launching. Once it stopped we never had a drop of rain the rest of the time. The water temperature at the start and finish of the trip was 70.4 degrees. The wind was WSW at 5-10 mph and died to almost nothing by 8:30. The air temperature was 72 degrees. Because of the possible return of the storms we didn’t venture too far from the launch at the start. We began at Victoria Point. We caught one 15” walleye and a 1 ½ pound smallmouth. Both were caught on a melon tube in 12–13 ft. We moved up the lake to Mission Meadows and caught 1 largemouth (2 pounds) and 2 more smallmouth (2 pounds each) and missed a few fish. All that action came on the same melon tube and same depth. We moved back down and across the lake to Prendergast Point and fished some of the shallow docks using a Venom Salty Sling. Only one largemouth, but it was a good one at 3 ½ pounds. We tried a few docks south of the bridge but came up empty. We made one last move back to Victoria and fished inside the buoys using a white Berkley Jerkshad, melon tube and the Salty Sling. We caught one more smallmouth on the jerkshad and had a muskie take the melon tube. He was only on for a short time before he broke off the 8 pound test line. With the cold temperatures through the early spring the weed growth is way behind. Places that you are use to finding weeds at this time of year either have none or are very sparse.
May 29, 2008…6:00am-12:00pm. It was a very cool morning with air temperatures starting at 49 degrees. The water temperature was 57.3 degrees. We started our morning at Victoria Point using tubes and flukes. We caught 2 nice smallmouth on a white Berkley Power Jerkshad. The fish were suspended in 14-15 feet of water just off the windy side of an underwater point. Three other fish came up and missed the same bait. We gave that area about an hour and then moved up the lake to the Dewitteville area. We fished the outside weed edge in the same depth as we did at Victoria and caught 2 more smallmouth on a 5” Berkley Saltwater swim bait. The biggest was a 5.3 pounder. We moved to the inside weed edge and found both smallmouth and largemouth still cruising in the scattered weeds and rocks. We caught 2 more smallies and one largemouth. The smallies took the white fluke and the largemouth was caught on an imitation crawfish.