Chautauqua 10/8 - 10/11 - MOON SECRETS

[BlueEye]

Went down to Chautauqua this past Sat – Mon just me and wife to do some fishing (well I did some fishing and Kate did some relaxing and reading and watching me fish). Started out trolling out over 25-35 fow from Irwin Bay to Pendergrast and wasn’t too impressed with how the graph looked (little bait and few big marks). Went zippo for the morning and decided to switch up to casting for the afternoon trip.

Water temp was 60 deg. In the morning and warmed to 61.5-62 by afternoon. Started casting around 4:00pm and immediately had a follow on a bucktail up in 5 foot of water. Watched 40†fish follow the lure around the figure twice before deciding he wasn’t going to be fooled today. At that moment I noticed a big full moon just starting to rise to over the horizon and it was like someone had just flipped on the switch to activate these fish. 5 casts later I had another follow. 15 minutes later I hooked up with one and fought it for 30 seconds before it came free. Had a couple more follows and lost another fish as the evening came to an end. No fish in the boat but LOTS of activity.

I never really paid attention to moon phases until that evening. It was incredible how as soon as the moon appeared these fish turned right on. I guess I am a believer now…..

Next day was more of the same – started out trolling east side of the lake and couldn’t move a rod. Switched up to shallows and casting in the afternoon and again as soon as moon came up the fish went crazy! Several more follows and a big one that hit my trolling motor and scared the daylights out of me (never had that happen before!). Saw a couple muskies chasing bait on the top – really cool stuff! Hooked up with a mid-30’s fish that went swam around the boat once before coming off. Biggest follow I had for the day was up in 5 feet of water (Mayville) on a fish that looked very similar to one I have seen before….. wish I could have got some hooks into her as she was hot on that lure but just missed it before getting spooked off. Did manage a nice fat 42†fish though.

Last thing that I noticed that stood out to me was the incredible amount of baitfish I saw just walking out to my dock. Yes, normally I see a few perch and sunfish, etc. but this weekend I saw a great number of crappie, bass, tons of sunfish, and large schools of white perch (dozens at a time) all way up in the shallows and I think that might explain why the muskies were in tight this weekend as well. Weeds are retreating making the shallows even more accessible right now. Jerkbaits and bucktails both worked good.

Talked to a couple of friends who also did really well casting that 5-15 foot range. Got a couple texts from Dan this morning (Lunge Lumber Lures) and he is doing really well today and I’d expect the evening bite to be even better.

[Ronix 51]

nicely done chad! we gotta get back down there ASAP hopefully a day trip this weekend there or waneta

[Nalod]

Nice fishing (and report) Chad. Hopefully Dan will post about his fishing today along with some pictures of his fish

Mike: I will be taking a day trip down to Chautauqua this weekend as long as the weather does not get out of control. Currently Sunday looks the best.

--Joe

[old man]

nice fish and report. i tried the full moon there for 4 days in sept but it was turnover,green water and no fish for me. maybe i should book in october next year?

[JOE ESOX]

Nice fish and interesting read. I never paid much attention to moon phases myself but i am still learning. Definitely somethin to think about...