# Chatauqua mid may



## rsm555600

Just booked a trip up there the 3rd weekend of may. This is my second may trip up there. The first was a bust. Temps were in the 30s and 40s and fishing was awful. My question is about which end of the lake to fish. We are staying on the south side of the northern half of the lake. Would it be more productive to just head to the shallow south end and fish for LM or target the smallies in the north end? I would rather catch smallies but if that is too early in the season to get them i would rather head to the south end and get numbers.


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## walleye willey

rsm555600 said:


> Just booked a trip up there the 3rd weekend of may. This is my second may trip up there. The first was a bust. Temps were in the 30s and 40s and fishing was awful. My question is about which end of the lake to fish. We are staying on the south side of the northern half of the lake. Would it be more productive to just head to the shallow south end and fish for LM or target the smallies in the north end? I would rather catch smallies but if that is too early in the season to get them i would rather head to the south end and get numbers.


Wow way to early to call,but it's a very good bass lake you are staying in an area where you can access both ends of the lake pretty easy, you could be fishing in a t-shirt or a parka in May o


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## Bleeding Minnow

yes too early to say but should not be too early for smallies. i had gone up for a week in the spring every year for 5 years but missed last year. as it gets closer there will be some reports on here to give you a clue to what is going on but the best advice i can give you is be able to adjust with the conditions.

where are you staying? i am trying to get a couple other guys to commit to a trip this spring and looking at week of may 22nd. i am looking at staying at pine hill which is south end of upper basin.


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## rsm555600

Agreed on needing to wait until closer to the date, but good to hear that it sounds like may can be a good month for smallies up there. We are staying at wewanchu cottages that same weekend. We were real happy with the facilities last trip and its location on the lake.


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## Bleeding Minnow

Booked my trip yesterday. Will be 2 of us staying at Pine Hill 5/21-5/26. Can't wait!


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## BMustang

Certainly won't be too early for smallies.

We catch them consistently in 49 degree and up water. Would probably catch them in 43-44 if we were there when that was the temperature. My thinking is that 55 is about perfect for them. The experts will say 65, but I do really well at 55.


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## kingfisher42

plenty of big smallies in the south basin too. dad and i always caught our biggest in the south basin


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## Bleeding Minnow

kingfisher42 said:


> plenty of big smallies in the south basin too. dad and i always caught our biggest in the south basin


Ken you heading to Chautauqua this spring? I broke a 5 year streak but not going last year. So last time I went up was when I met you on the lake.


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## rk91279

Ken this is ur dad,, quit giving our secrets away,,,LOL


Yea we'll be there


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## kingfisher42

Bleeding Minnow said:


> Ken you heading to Chautauqua this spring? I broke a 5 year streak but not going last year. So last time I went up was when I met you on the lake.


yes dad and i going teh same time we usually do. buddy and his son going too. this time we rented a house on the west shore in the north basin. probably have way up in irwin bay. you staying the same spot close to long point?


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## Bleeding Minnow

kingfisher42 said:


> yes dad and i going teh same time we usually do. buddy and his son going too. this time we rented a house on the west shore in the north basin. probably have way up in irwin bay. you staying the same spot close to long point?


This year renting at pine hill. Pretty much across from long point. Taking my bro up for 1st time. Going week b4 Memorial Day this year. You going after Memorial Day?


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## kingfisher42

Bleeding Minnow said:


> This year renting at pine hill. Pretty much across from long point. Taking my bro up for 1st time. Going week b4 Memorial Day this year. You going after Memorial Day?



yea week after. might be up with buddy around may 15-16 time frame. that week. all depends on weather then


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## RMK

rsm555600 said:


> Agreed on needing to wait until closer to the date, but good to hear that it sounds like may can be a good month for smallies up there. We are staying at wewanchu cottages that same weekend. We were real happy with the facilities last trip and its location on the lake.


my dad and a group of his buddies fished up there. they stayed/stay in the same place. they were after panfish though. if i m thinking right they went up about the same time you are talking about going. i never made the trip with them but always sounded like a good time.


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## Bleeding Minnow

Closing in on the spring Chautauqua trip! Sounds like high water up there now and snow this coming weekend so a typical spring. I'll be heading up with my brother on the 21st and hoping for decent weather and a good bite that week. If anybody is up at the lake sooner would love to hear some reports.


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## JohnJH

I'll be going up Mother's Day weekend. Never been before so not really sure what to fish for/with or anything. Fishing out of a boat staying at the KOA. Anyone have any tips or thoughts on what to fish for/with?


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## Bleeding Minnow

Walleye season opens this Saturday. Muskie season is closed until last Saturday of the month. Largemouth and Smallmouth are currently both catch and release only and only with artificial. I heard perch and crappie are both being caught in numbers recently. Good luck and report back how you did!


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## kingfisher42

JohnJH said:


> I'll be going up Mother's Day weekend. Never been before so not really sure what to fish for/with or anything. Fishing out of a boat staying at the KOA. Anyone have any tips or thoughts on what to fish for/with?



what are you fishing for?


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## JohnJH

kingfisher42 said:


> what are you fishing for?


Nothing in particular. Anything that bites. I would love to catch some small mouth though.


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## kingfisher42

SMB should be shallow. Lots of perch will be pretty shallow too if you want fish to eat. Remember bass are catch n release then.


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## JohnJH

kingfisher42 said:


> SMB should be shallow. Lots of perch will be pretty shallow too if you want fish to eat. Remember bass are catch n release then.


Okay thanks! And I wouldn't keep a bass even if I could.


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## DVDAngelo

Always had good luck for SMB in the North Basin. Tube jigs along the weed line. Victoria area North of Stow is a good starting point.


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## kingfisher42

good luck. lets know how you do


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## JohnJH

So far today we've boated a bunch of perch and big gills, had 3 Muskie follows, and 1 30" tiger Muskie landed. Not doing to good with the bass but have had lots of Muskie action


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## kingfisher42

What's the water temp?


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## JohnJH

kingfisher42 said:


> What's the water temp?


53-55


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## JohnJH

Was really windy today. Only fished for a few hours. Caught a couple rock bass and my brother landed a big smallmouth. Ended up with 1 largemouth, 1 big smallmouth, 2 baby smallmouth, 1 muskie, a few rockbass and a bunch of perch and gills. Not bad for our first trip up there


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## Bleeding Minnow

Looks and sounds like you had fun. Nice smallie! And nice muskie! We will be up there a week from today. Cleaning reels and organizing gear now. Looks like will be a few days with warm weather up there this week and then maybe rainy for the week we will be there. Thanks for the report!


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## Bleeding Minnow

rsm555600 said:


> Just booked a trip up there the 3rd weekend of may. This is my second may trip up there. The first was a bust. Temps were in the 30s and 40s and fishing was awful. My question is about which end of the lake to fish. We are staying on the south side of the northern half of the lake. Would it be more productive to just head to the shallow south end and fish for LM or target the smallies in the north end? I would rather catch smallies but if that is too early in the season to get them i would rather head to the south end and get numbers.


Are you heading up there today or tomorrow? We will be getting in Sunday afternoon. Sounds like the fishing is good right now. Hearing reports of all species biting. Good luck and would love to hear a report on how you did.


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## kingfisher42

Bleeding Minnow said:


> Are you heading up there today or tomorrow? We will be getting in Sunday afternoon. Sounds like the fishing is good right now. Hearing reports of all species biting. Good luck and would love to hear a report on how you did.


keep us updated minnow


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## Bleeding Minnow

My brother and I pulled into Pine Hill Cottages at Chautauqua on Sunday afternoon. After a rainy drive we had a break in the weather to unload and launch the boat. Decided to poke around a bit on Sunday eve just to get an idea of weed growth and wow so many areas are already choked out. Sounds like the lake thawed out several times over the winter so weeds didn't really die off. Upper basin water temp was 58-60 on Sunday and it was real windy. Monday was windy again but the search was on early for smallmouth and then checked in on a personal favorite spot end of the day for largemouth. We landed 24 fish with 5 bass over 3lbs and the biggest (smallie) going 3.5lbs. Ran into a couple guys who said they caught around 50 bass on the day. Tuesday was warm with blue bird skies and some east wind in the mix. Started out amazing with a great topwater smallmouth bite. Fish started missing baits so moved over to other techniques but was a day of short strikes including a pig walleye jerking the weed line in the evening. She sniffed the bait a couple times before committing but still came unbuttoned at the boat. That one stung. Wednesday brought consistent white caps to the lake and the water warmed up to 60-62. Was a super grind of a day. We got off the lake a bit early to get the batteries charged up before the rain started. Our neighbors fished later that night and said smallies turned on at dusk. It started raining Wednesday night and didn't stop until about 4p on Thursday. I was still thinking about the walleye so decided to troll worm harnesses all day. Only ran into 2 eyes but had nonstop action from yellow perch, white perch and white bass. As we were trailering up Thursday evening we ran into our neighbor again and he said the smallie fishing was really good that day so sounds like my timing wasn't so great this week. 100 fish on the clicker with 9 species total and a fun week with my brother who does not fish a whole lot. Pine Hill was great! We will be back!


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## kingfisher42

Go Time tomorrow morning!


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## Bleeding Minnow

kingfisher42 said:


> Go Time tomorrow morning!


GL! I didn't fish for LM much but the little I did I can tell you they were up shallow even 2 weeks ago. They were feeding up right on the bank on Monday 5/22. The next 3 days they pulled back into the inside weedline and were very finicky. Combo of weather and spawn I imagine. I have an aluminum boat now so with the wind that week I spent most of 1st 3 days drift fishing rocky bars for smallies and they were cooperating very well at times. I even got a great topwater bite going on Tuesday 5/23. Never looked at lower basin. There were many docks in the upper basin that were either not yet in or just going in last week.


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## kingfisher42

Bleeding Minnow said:


> GL! I didn't fish for LM much but the little I did I can tell you they were up shallow even 2 weeks ago. They were feeding up right on the bank on Monday 5/22. The next 3 days they pulled back into the inside weedline and were very finicky. Combo of weather and spawn I imagine. I have an aluminum boat now so with the wind that week I spent most of 1st 3 days drift fishing rocky bars for smallies and they were cooperating very well at times. I even got a great topwater bite going on Tuesday 5/23. Never looked at lower basin. There were many docks in the upper basin that were either not yet in or just going in last week.



thanks. usually a lot of docks are put in or go in memorial day weekend. still be plenty around tho!


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## kingfisher42

Ugh. Damn rock snot all over. Couple key LMB spots of mine are unfishable. Never seen it like this


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## Bleeding Minnow

kingfisher42 said:


> Ugh. Damn rock snot all over. Couple key LMB spots of mine are unfishable. Never seen it like this


How's the fishing Ken? I am still thinking about my trip from a couple weeks ago. Wish I had a couple more days on that trip.


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## Skarfer

I'm heading up Saturday for a week.........can't wait!


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