Chautauqua Opener

[Ivan]

Had a good weekend. Caught fish each day but nothing big for us. The fish we caught appeared to be recovering from a recent spawn. Most fish we caught had red spot or wounds and were skinny. I expected and hoped fishing would be better, but it's still great to be back at Chq.

Water is pretty clear both ends. Temps are around 70 deg. North end has some floating moss and some pond weed. The narrows and South end has mats of floating pond weed, making fishing very difficult or even impossible in some areas. I covered or checked out most of the lake Saturday. Lots of muskie boats out Saturday. I bet there were 20 plus boats in one area I fished Saturday. Sunday and today had less muskie boats and more spread out. Overall boat traffic was not bad for a holiday weekend. I've definitely seen way worse at Chq.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Ivan

[JOE ESOX]

Slow weekend for me. Got a couple smaller fish trolling surface baits in 27fow up north. Lots of follows/near misses casting the shallows early am but couldn't seal the deal. At one point an upper 40's fish surfaced right next to the boat like a submarine... Took a gulp of air and went back down. Kinda like givin us the middle finger... Highlight of the weekend was my 4 year old son getting his first muskie. Great times...

Edited July 18, 2016 by JOE ESOX

[JOE ESOX]

Don't know why pics post twice, but looks like it's not just me having this issue....  guess it only happens on iphone??

Edited June 1, 2016 by JOE ESOX

[Ivan]

Nice pic with your boy, Joe.

The more i hear, it sounds as though there were more than a few people fishing Chautauqua at least a week early this year. One guy in particular, is a lake resident. I also heard one guy caught a fish a week early that was dropping eggs in his boat. It sounds like some were fishing early because they had the dates wrong, but also sounds like others knew they were early. Either way...no excuse. How hard is it to read last Saturday in May in the regulations and wait like the rest of us? I always hear there is still up to 25% natural reproduction in the lake, so the closed season is in place for a reason. It's not like OH where there is no natural reproduction and no need for a closed season.

Edited June 1, 2016 by Ivan

[JOE ESOX]

Agreed Ivan. Gets my blood boiling, but there will always be folks who figure that the rules do not apply to them. I would encourage anyone who witnesses this type of activity during closed seasons in the future to call the DEC tip line and report the offenders...

Edited June 1, 2016 by JOE ESOX

[Ronix 51]

It is ridiculous but unfortunately with limited DEC man power it'd be tough to enforce. Hopefully a heads-up from this season will have them checking next season. Heard similar antics were happening on LSC as well

[muskiedreams]

I don't know if it is true but I have heard that very often the town judges let fishing regulation violators off easy. I think the arresting officer has to be present. But if certain judges don't take the charges seriously, or they accept the lame excuse of "I didn't know", the DEC officers probably feel they are wasting their time. In Canada, they seem to be more serious about violators.

[Lucky Craft Man]

FishinNY just informed me that the Chautauqua tourney is on June 11 this year (thought it was on the 4th Saturday again therefore I would miss another one for a wedding) so this will be fun to fish it earlier!

 

Is there more information on this anywhere?  Is this an open event like it has been in the past?

[muskiedreams]

Yes . It is on June 11th. It is an open tournament except it is $25 for Muskies Inc Members and $35 for non members. Tournament starts at 7am. Registration at Mayville launch 6am till 7:15 am.

 

Will post more info in a day or two.