Thanksgiving on Chautauqua

[shadboy]

I'll be visiting relatives at Lake Chautauqua for Thanksgiving. Will there be any fishing at that time of year in NY? I'm a southern boy, so I have no idea about when ice keeps fishermen off of the water.

[Gabepeeps]

Chautauqua is a excellent crappie lake! I've fished it dozens of times when i was younger. I'm from Pa and have family that live in Buffalo, NY. Fished it a lot growing up. LOTS of docks to shoot! If you can call it shooting. Some have 3-5 feet of space under them. We caught our limit outta there a lot. Wind can be rough at times. It ruined plenty of trips. Nothing you can do but watch the white caps from shore. Let me know how well you do. I've never fished it in November, but the lake doesnt have many depth changes. Sloping bottom with a few good drop-offs. Any depth change you could find would hold fish. But remember the fish up north aren't affected by cold water the same as fish in the south. They could be in 8 fow year round, even under the ice.

[shadboy]

Thanks for the reply, I was beginning to think that I wasn't going to get any info. I will definitely give you a report.

[Zinger]

Just found your inquiry, because like you said no body wants to help anyone, so I pretty much quit even checking. If you look down thru the N.Y. info you will see where I have ask for help several times on up coming trips and no one will even reply. They definitely fit the definition of fishing " A Jerk at one end of the line waiting for a jerk at the other end of the line!!!" Truth is if they were a little friendlier they would probably get more info out of me than they ever gave. I have been fishing Chautauqua now for over 30 years, spring summer and fall. I have fished there with some outstanding guides to better learn the lake. But I guess I am just one of those no good lurkers!! I will be up for a week the middle of October and would be glad to give you any info I have if you PM me. I usually do fairly well there at that time. Everything, bass, musky, crappie, perch. But I have been run off by snow at that time also. Now 72 not quite as crazy as I use to be. Unless we had some very mild fall weather I think you maybe a little too late!

[shadboy]

Just found your inquiry, because like you said no body wants to help anyone, so I pretty much quit even checking. If you look down thru the N.Y. info you will see where I have ask for help several times on up coming trips and no one will even reply. They definitely fit the definition of fishing " A Jerk at one end of the line waiting for a jerk at the other end of the line!!!" Truth is if they were a little friendlier they would probably get more info out of me than they ever gave. I have been fishing Chautauqua now for over 30 years, spring summer and fall. I have fished there with some outstanding guides to better learn the lake. But I guess I am just one of those no good lurkers!! I will be up for a week the middle of October and would be glad to give you any info I have if you PM me. I usually do fairly well there at that time. Everything, bass, musky, crappie, perch. But I have been run off by snow at that time also. Now 72 not quite as crazy as I use to be. Unless we had some very mild fall weather I think you maybe a little too late!

Thanks, PM on the way!

[shadboy]

Well, since nobody wants to share info, I will share everything I learn about Chautauqua with everyone on this board. I'm going to take my boat and Humminbird SI to the lake and find every drop off, hump, brush pile and stump that I can. I'll share all the GPS locations along with descriptions (depth, structure, cover, etc.), as well as which ones were holding fish, on this thread. I plan on staying at least a week and to devote at least two full days to running the big motor and Side Imaging Unit exclusively. I should be able to come up with three to four hundred likely fish holding spots in that amount of time. Maybe if I share everything with all of you Chautauqua fisherman, you all will want to help each other more. Stay tuned!

[NYHellbender]

Don't get upset fellas..... The NY forum just doesn't get very many hits. There are only like 5 or 6 guys that even post on here from NY. Most of us are from the Finger Lakes Region, Syracuse and over by Buffalo. Heck we have been trying for years to get together for a Crappie Camp or even a Cook Out with No Success. So please don't feel like we are shutting you out.
I have been a member on here for years and finaly meet a Crappie.com'er for the first time last week.

[Zinger]

Wow! That will be a major undertaking. Anxious to see what you come up with. I leave in the morning for there for a week. Not the best forecast, cold, some rain and as always wind. But will give it are best. Be glad to share the info with anyone Interested.

[shadboy]

I'm not getting excited, but I was trying to get you guys wound up! I hate that y'all don't have a bigger membership. Here in NC, there are a whole mess of Crappie.com folks and if a person makes a post like my last one, there would be a pile of folks jump on the thread and start getting mouthy. We sure have a lot of fun with the website and each other. I am coming up there to fish and I will make a report or two. Since they're not too many of us in NY, I won't be too hard on everyone. I hope I get to at least meet some serious fishermen while I'm there. No hard feelings, I hope. Tight lines, Marty

[NYHellbender]

No worries Marty. I wish there were more Crappie.com'ers up here.

One day I'd like to go down south to a Crappie.com Camp. The pictures of folks and food looks like a blast of a good time.