BlueEye

Very nice Matt! Slideshows are nice to help pass the cold months and get everyone stoked about the upcoming season. Well done

Nice pics Andrew - thanks for sharing! Bob before you are so quick to judge the ugliness of a fisherman, why don't you post a picture of the night you showed up to the King of the Lake awards wearing your poka dotted PJ's....

Thanks for the kind words on the new website guys. I know that Mike is THRILLED with how it came out and like Larry said... it was long over due for an update! Brad - I will have to check to see if my buddy Joe is available for us to fish that day. Sounds like fun to me though! I will hold the date on my calendar

I second what the SGT says. Thank you for your services Larry - there is a deep appreciation for veterans on this website as we have MANY LOU members that have (and still are) serving this great nation.

Wow Mike.... that's just awesome! Way to go!

Here's to all that keep this country great Happy Veteran's Day!

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Nice going Tom

Hey guys - Today I am proud to announce the official launch of my newest website for Mike Sperry of Chautauqua Reel Outdoors. If you want to see a some impressive pics from the most highly respected musky anglers on Chautauqua Lake, then browse over to his new website and check out the photogallery! http://www.chautauquareeloutdoors.com On a side note, I didn't have any luck this weekend as Joe and I tried on Saturday. It was a stiff 25-35mph south wind that made fishing really hard. It was a bumpy troll and the casting option was equally as tough as we would quickly blow through our spots (even with the trolling motor fighting the wind) and it was near impossible to see any follows through the waves/white caps. We talked to two other guys. One guy got skunked and one guy got a 48" fish off the bell tower. The deep holes looked the best. Water temp was 48 degrees and we saw a good share of marks over the deep pockets. The trolling option is definitely back for those looking to try your luck going into the last few weeks of the season. Best of luck!

Bob - Thanks for the update! That will give us a couple options now at least. Glad to hear you were able to get them going trolling. With the water getting cooler now by the day (currently at 49 degrees), it doesn't surprise me that the trolling bite will start to turn back on. I'll let you know how we do tomorrow! On a side note, does anyone have any sledgehammer lures they are looking to sell? I am looking specifically for the 6 inch model that is NOT weighted. My preferred color is black, black knight and perch. Chad

Happy Birthday Keith! Hope your having a good one buddy

Got a call from my old buddy Joe informing me that the weather is suppose to be nice this weekend and thus we are going to try our luck again on Chautauqua this Saturday. Anyone else going to be down there this weekend? Also had a chance to talk to my buddy Mike Sperry from Chautauqua Reel Outdoors (whom by the way I am doing the website for... so look for that to officially launch sometime in the near future). Mike was able to get out yesterday and shared with me the following: Shaping up to be a fun weekend and hopefully we can put some fish in the boat. I am itching for one more shot at the fish I saw last time....

Wow Zack - great buck and great picture! Way to go buddy

Nice job Nick! Sounds like a great day on the water!

Wow - great pics! Thanks for sharing... those are probably the darkest browns I have ever seen.

Your the best Larry! Thanks for looking that up for us. Just wanted to know what we have a chance at in that lake. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Welcome to the site Sk8man! Glad to finally have you aboard Sit back, relax and enjoy the LOU.

Vet's Lunge (I like it Bob - good thinking!) Comrade Casting Trolling Tribute

Larry - Do you happen to know what the official record is for Chautauqua Lake? Do they even keep those records?

Larry - I believe it. This hawg came in that same area. The length was one thing but what impressed me the most was the girth and shoulders on this fish. Just the coolest thing - got my heart racing real quick I'll do my best to keep the stories coming and I am sure the other LOU members will do the same. Hang in there ol' buddy - it won't be long till you are back on the water again. Then you can show us how to put some of those hawgs in the boat! Chad

Hey Larry! The trip was good but had the potential to have been GREAT! Mike and I decided we were going to try the casting routine this time around with the hopes that we could find some fish holding the last the green weeds before they die off and the fish move to deeper water again. The day started with me hooking up on my 3rd cast! After a short fight, we landed the fish and had a quick release. The fish was mid 30's. It came on a jointed X-Rap (Black/Silver Shad). A few casts later Mike has a nice one follow to the boat (upper 30's/low 40's). Couldn't get him to take. This was all around Pendergrast point. We then headed down to Chautaqua Bay and long point. Couldn't get anything going there except Mike had a school of small mouths following his 9" Perch bait back to the boat every cast for a while in Chautauqua Bay. They wouldn't hit the bait, just swim along with it - it was pretty funny to watch but no muskies. We then headed up to Lighthouse point and started throwing a 6" Sledge Hammer (black). I was really impressed with this lure (over a similar LEO that I was throwing) cause it always "backed up" when I paused it instead of just floating straight up. The action on the Sledge Hammer was very impressive and it wasn't long after I tied that on that I hooked up with another. This one was low 30's and was quickly released to grow bigger. After that is when things started to get exciting........... With two fish already caught and a couple more follows, we headed back to Pendergrast Point and tried casting some more. It didn't take long before we had a beast (Mike guessed it to be upper 40's) follow the sledge back to the boat. He was really hot on the bait and followed it for a couple figure 8's but missed the bait every time he went to strike. Exciting as it was we couldn't get any hooks in him. Thinking that would have been our last sighting for the day, and pretty satisfied already with the number of fish we had seen and boated we were ready to call it a night. We tried a few more casts and sure enough "the beast" appears. I saw the biggest muskie I have ever seen in Chautauqua following inches behind my bait. Aside from its incredible length (Mike guessed it be 52" or 53"), it had some shoulders on him that rendered me speechless! He followed for a figure 8 or two and then swam away. Mike switched quickly to his 9" perch bait and tossed in the direction the fish swam away towards. Mike's first cast and the beast strikes at his lure (T-bone) and I thought we had him but we never got the hooks in. At this point in time I could hardly walk I was so excited and heartbroken at the same time. He would have made for an amazing replica mount........ but thats fishing for you. Capt. Mike has put over 70 muskies in the boat this year and he claims that was easily the biggest fish he has seen all year by a long shot. So to all you guys headed down there this coming weekend..... I can say from first hand experience yesterday that there is something that lurks in those waters around Pendergast point that will make any fisherman lucky enough to see him or hook him a very happy man! Best of luck!

Nitro - I will be down on Chautauqua tomorrow fishing with Mike Sperry. Gonna try some casting this time around. I'll post the report when I get back. Should be fun. Chad

Thanks for the tips Larry and glad to see you back on LOU! Hope you are feeling much better. I might be heading up to Chautuaqua again to try some casting with Capt. Mike Sperry. I want to learn a few more things out there and I know Mike has been doing great lately. He did 11 muskies this week and had 12 follows so maybe he will share some of his insights with me on our next trip up there. Could be as soon as tomorrow possibly but we will see.

Joe and I made it up there this weekend to try our luck and found a much, much different lake than the one we last fished a couple months ago! The surface temp in the north end of the lake (Mayville) was a constant 53 degrees and the temp around long point to Tom's point was 51 degrees. Didn't find any bait, temp breaks or consistent marks anywhere on the north end trolling. I hit all holes and points and couldn't get a rod to fire. Finally found some bait around Long Point and Tom's point. Fished that hard and only heard of two fish taken from there from all the other trollers we talked to this weekend. Nothing from the north end. Trolling was definitely not the answer. We fished a half day on Saturday and half day Sunday morning. Our Sunday morning trip started off with us catching an 18 foot boat occupied by a grandfather and his grandson. They were stranded out in the middle of the lake after their boat broke down. Both of them exhausted from trying to paddle in. We ended up giving them a tow back in on the stipulation that the grandson promised to go out and try again with his grandfather after he got the boat fixed They both happily agreed. After talking with a good friend (Capt. Mike Sperry of Chautauqua Reel Outdoors), he mentioned that the fish were all tight to the weed beds and shallow. He did good numbers of them casting. Chalk this one up as a learning experience for us. We did mark a whole lot of walleyes though and had walleye fisherman all around Long Point both days. Hopefully I will have another chance to make it down there sometime later this year. I know a bunch of LOU guys are thinking of heading down around Halloween so maybe then I will give it another shot. Despite our limited success, we had a great time out there and I couldn't think of anything I would have rather of been doing

The October cycle! Very nice - congrats!