mostlymuskies

I will not be on Chautauqua again until July 1st.Time for the Great Lakes Musky Opener and midnight tonight at the Buffalo Harbor.I have heard of a few fishermen still doing well at Chautauqua Lake with fish moving a little deeper this week,25 to 27 ft water depths up north have been good.

NYSDEC Biologist Chris Legard is mailing me the NYSDEC Angler Diary Books for Muskie Study on Chautauqua Lake.Those who have committed to take part in the Angler Diary Study need to email me at [email protected] or private email on LOU your address so I can mail the books your way.Anyone else that would like to participate in the Chautauqua Angler Diary Study,just let me know.At the completion of the muskie season the books get mailed directly to NYSDEC Region 9 Office,they will record the information from the books and m ail the books back to you.

NYSDEC Biologist Chris Legard is mailing me the NYSDEC Angler Diary Books for Muskie Study on Chautauqua Lake.Those who have committed to take part in the Angler Diary Study need to email me at [email protected] or private email on LOU your address so I can mail the books your way.Anyone else that would like to participate in the Chautauqua Angler Diary Study,just let me know.At the completion of the muskie season the books get mailed directly to NYSDEC Region 9 Office,they will record the information from the books and m ail the books back to you.

Musky Flee Market on Facebook!

All the rest of this week is off & on rain, just have to make the best of what you have in front of you, no lines in the water means no chance at all!

Today I dodged thunder and rain, getting off the water and back on again.We managed only a 35" muskie from 38 ft of water off Lutheran Camp.Quit early at 1:30 pm after getting soaked for the 2nd time.

I will just stay with Leadcore flat lines and reel in the extra line on the side the fish is on.The others the center of the Leadcore will lay on bottom and fluorocarbon leader and crankbait will float off bottom when the boat is stopped.When ever possible I turn the boat out to the side to put the fish even with the wind direction so boat is not moving toward the fish or fish toward the boat!

Mike, Thanks for committing to two Angler Diary Books.I will get them your way as soon as I receive them from Chris Legard. I will talk with the NY Muskies 69 Board and see if they want to have a fall Chautauqua Tourney.I did not go to Chautauqua Lake this morning, client moved his date to July.Jigstick hopefully you hooked up with Adam for the day.I will be down tomorrow morning for the whole day, good luck to everyone fishing there today.

Adam, Thank You for yourself & friends help with Chautauqua Lake Angler Diary Study.I would not be able to get the books until next week.Let me ask Chris Legard if I can give you his email and Chris can email you back and make arrangements to mail you the books.I will be on the Niagara River for the Great Lakes Muskie Opener the following weekend so would not be able to give them to you then.

Chris Legard muskie biologist for NYSDEC Region 9 has emailed me back that the NYSDEC would definitely like to have an Angler Diary Study done with Muskies on Chautauqua Lake.I would get the Angler Diary Study Books and get them into the hands of those fishermen that would like to participate. Then at the end of the inland muskie season All Angler Diary Study Books would be mailed to the NYSDEC by each participant.No one would see your Angler Diary Study Book but you and the NYSDEC, they will comply all the data from all the books combined then mail the books back to each participant.They are looking for Size, Fin Clip Position, Red Spot or other scars, date of catch.Please post here if you would like to take part in the Chautauqua Lake Angler Diary Study!

Jigstick, I will also be in the North Basin on Saturday, call me at 716-432-0198 and I can tell you if we are having any muskie action!

Steve, Thanks for the correction on the NYSDEC administration of the Waneta & Conesus Lakes Angler Diary Study.I just got so use to the NMA mailing out the Angler Diary Study books to those taking part, that I assumed we would be doing the same.Not good to hear that you were told they declined to do a online reporting system in the past.So I will take the request through the county federations to the NY Conservation Council for pressure from that direction.

The Angler Diary Study of the Niagara River/Buffalo Harbor administrated by the NMA has the option for NMA Members to enter catch & release data via NMA website.The compiled online data and Angler Diary book data are forwarded to the NSDEC. Conesus Lake and Waneta Lake Angler Diary Study I believe is administered by the NY Muskies Inc. Chapter 69, they hand out the Diary books.If the NSDEC does not want to put together an online entry system, maybe this could be setup on the Chapter 69 website through LOU.If the NYSDEC still is interested in Chautauqua Lake Angler Diary Study entries could be there as well.Just a thought because we all know how slow NY State is to make change.

I will make that suggestion to the ECFAB to have a letter sent through the ECFSC to the NYSDEC saying the fishermen doing Angler Diary Study would like the option to enter data online!

Move over by Windmill Point to 50 ft hole!

Jigstick, Your downrigger ball down 12 ft with 15 ft lead is probably putting your crankbait around 14 ft down.That is right where my crankbaits are with 4 colors of leadcore at 3.7 mph, this has been what has worked for me in the same area from Prendergast to Bell Tower in 25 to 30 ft of water. So I would say your program is spot on.I started out back in 1975 using downrigger rods and caught many muskies using them. I used 50 lb Mono back then, today I would use 80 lb Power Pro and thick rubber band half hitched on braid then into the release.Most important of all the release tools are the hook cutters, if you do not own a pair of Knipex Mini Bolt Cutters you need to get a pair of those, makes for fast cutting to get hooks from fish and from you if you get hooked with fish thrashing attached.Congrats on your recent success, any day you get 2 muskies is a great day!

Dustin, I'm happy that I was able to find the owner of the rod & reel combo and give it back to them.Just goes to show how great LOU is for communication!