Chautauqua Lake 2016 - Photo Journal

This past weekend was the 5th annual Pre-Season trip to Lake Chautauqua and Lake Erie, and by pre-season I mean pre-Ontario Bass season. The 3 old guys (sorry Brian) and I loaded up two vehicles and made our annual trip over the Memorial day weekend.

Unlike the past few years the weather co-operated, and very unlike the past few years the fish.. not so much. The bite was tough and I'm not really sure why? yes our trip was later in the season, meaning slightly warmer water temps, but the areas we slayed fish on previous trip not only didn't product this year but often left us scratching our heads. We went deep into our bag of tricks to salvage the weekend and make sure some fish made it into the boats. 

Obviously as you can see from the above image, the trip wasn't a total bust, a day one smallmouth topping 6lbs left us all smiling for days. Rick as usual finished the weekend with this, the trips biggest fish.

I personally lost a nice smallie at the boat (should have taken the net help offered) and broke off a jumbo bedded largemouth that Brian and I had put in some serious work on. Short line and a long hook set makes this my fault and I'm still kicking myself today.

enough rambling, onto the pics...

The early morning commute Day1 ... the 6 hour drive is worth it each and every time

Kenny with the first fish of the trip, its small but a bend in the rod is always a good thing

My First fish of the trip, 4 hours into our dock fishing, we finally moved out to find some fish. I love a good spinnerbait bite.

When fishing the docks didn't work, Kenny and I moved to throwing smaller swimsbaits on the outer edges and quickly found some active fish.. not big ones, but fish.

My favourite spot on the lake, didn't help us this year but I was happy to say hello

With the hot weather in full effect it was time to break out the Salt Armour gear. I couldn't believe how comfortable it was, and how quickly it cooled down my neck and ears.

Just another bucket mouth falling victim to the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper. 

Sunrise on day 2... not a bad sight

Yep, us Kawartha boys just can't pull ourselves away from the shallow water and docks. This might have hurt us this weekend, but it was still a blast.

Surprise spinnerbait smallie

This is about the cookie cutter size of largemouth we found this year. This is common but usually we run into a few kicker fish.. not the case in 2016

I think this might be my first tube fish in 2+ seasons, I just don't throw them enough and when I do, its  usually a drag (no pun intended) 

 Another gorgeous sunrise. I'm never happy to see 5am, unless I'm fishing

Kenny and I working a large rock/gravel shoal ran into a couple back to back smallies nearly identical in size, although he tells me his was larger. 

I could make this journey every morning. The long walk to work.

The return of the Senko, another bait that has seen limited to no action in my boat the last couple seasons was one of the most productive lures on Chautauqua. Almost every boat we pulled up on has at least one guy throwing them... you know my thoughts... can't beat'em join'em

The Last trip across the lake... time to go home.

 And the Lake Chautauqau curse strikes again. 1 hour into our drive home and we blow a tire. After a quick run to a local auto parts store to grab some tools, and back again when our jack wouldn't work.. 2 hours later back on the road and head home. 

Weapons of Choice:

As mentioned it was not one of our more successful trips, but in case you're wondering, here are the weapons of choice

1) Spinnerbait - Dobyns DX744, Daiwa Zillion, War Eagle Spinnerbait

2) Flipping Jig - Dobyns DX743, Daiwa Tatula HD,  BassTek Jig

3) Senko - Dobyns DX742SF, Daiwa Procyon EX, Yammamoto Senko

4) Tube - Dobyns SSM704C, Daiwa Tatula CT,  Bass Pro Shop Teaser Tubes

Chautauqua Lake Photo Journal - Bass Fishing in May - 2015 Edition

This past weekend was my 4th annual Trip to Western NY in search of jumbo bass on Lake Erie and Lake Chautauqua. I really look forward to this trip and as usual the lakes and the fish did not disappoint.

Here are some pics from our adventure...

The Dunkirk Harbour on Lake Erie is always our first stop, depending on weather we either fish fish the harbour and more secluded spots, but if weather (meaning wind) permits we venture out in the big lake in search of big fish.

(Kenny's Smallie)

Unfortunately this year, a sick co-angler and a drained battery meant we were spending most of our time in the Harbour.. with that said the fish were plentiful and who can complain about catching dozens of smallies ready to fight.

Erie is loaded with beautiful fish, the above pic is my fish official bass of the 2015 Season

Chautauqua Lake is one of my favourite fishing spots I have ever had a chance to wet a line. An abundance of large largemouth and smallmouth bass as well as Walleye (that I have yet to catch), Musky, Crappie, Perch, MudCats, and more. This Lake is a fisherman's dream

Kenny and I partnered up on day 1 at Chautauqua, and as usual we started off by flipping docks. This was the first fish of the day, and a sign of good things to come.

Although we didn't smack the numbers we had in previous years, we did manage a good number of fish, most pulled out from under docks with some sort of secondary cover near by. The carp have been cutting up the shorelines and if enough weed clung to the side of the dock, you would usually find a fish under it.

The morning bite was off, so we quickly ran through the docks, and returned in the afternoon, hoping the sun would push some fish into cover. We did manage more fish in the afternoon, but still not the bite we were looking for.

This Molix Craw was one of my hot baits on this tip. It allowed me to use a large wide profile while still sliding easily through cover (Texas rigged). Typically I would have fished a jig in this situation, but the Molix craw was a nice alternative. 

Check out the secondary cover all around this dock.. stop looking at the fish... this is what we looked for all afternoon in order to find dock fish. 

Smallies were not in abundance on Chautauqua but this little guy fell victim to a spinnerbait while fishing a secluded weeded around by rock piles. I wish I could have found his bigger brother.

Whats a trip without a little food porn. The last two seasons I have been the chef for this outing and as always I made sure the BBQ got in on the action.. now back to the fish.

On Day 2 at Chatauqua I was parked up with Brian, he and I have a blast on the water and were able to find some pretty solid fish. We started on the North/East end of the lake, but high winds made the conditions tough. By moving the west end the water was more manageable and the fishing picked up. This is Brian with a nice 4lber.

Brain really had the hot stick in the afternoon, added more and more weight to our imaginary tournament bag. It was nice to see those fish under 2lbs quickly get erased from our rappel scale. 

I too contributed to our bag with this 4.29lb largemouth pull our from a windblown dock. Later on this day I was surprised by a Musky pulled out from nearly the exact same cover. 

After watching the Chautauqua Lake Major League Fishing Episode we decided to treat the day like a tournament, above is what Brian and my final bag would have looked like at the end of the day. A  very respectable 18.12lbs for 5 fish. Just need that one big kicker

Day 3 poured rain and the temps dropped by 20 degrees, so needless to say the fishing was tough and the camera stayed tucked away. We did manage some fish, the best being Ricks 4+ lb smallmouth, and the oddest catch goes to the mud cat I caught while spinnerbait fishing some timber

This is the fun pic from the trip, after a wet day one of the boys not naming any names (Kenny) took the time to dry out his tackle on the back of the toilet using the shower fan.. only time will tell if it actually worked

Weapons of Choice:

Dobyns DX746 - Daiwa Tatula - Elite Tungsten - Molix Craw
Dobyns DX744 - Daiwa Zillion - War Eagle Spinnerbait
Dobyns 734C - Daiwa Tatula Type R - Gann's Jigs
Dobyns 735C - Daiwa Lexa - Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper

Canoe Fishing Tips from the Cataraqui River 2014

Don't get me wrong, I love to fish in a bad ass bass boat, or my sun dolphin pond hopper, but from time to time there is nothing more relaxing then fishing from a canoe… and if your a cheater like I'm and power your canoe with a trolling motor, its even more relaxing.

For Tips and Tricks on making the most out of each Canoe Fishing Trip you take, check out this Bass Junkies article entitled  Canoe Fishing 101. Not much has changed since I wrote that article back in 2012, but below you will find a few tips for enjoying every minute of your canoe trip.. and oh yeah catching a few fish.

Canoe fishing is great in that it forces you to pair down your gear (tackle and rods) and focus on a few techniques at a time. During this trip I placed my faith in 3 rods.. a frog rod (surprise, surprise) a medium-heavy pitching stick and a wacky worm rig set up on spinning gear (full arsenal can be found at the bottom of the page)

The frog rod is pretty self explanatory, first off its what I do, and secondly this part of the river is loaded with slop and pads.. a win win in my books. Finding fish was another storey, we only saw a total of 3 fish blow-up on our frogs of which I was able to land just one fish

My second rod choice was a medium/heavy flipping or pitching stick. I use this as a follow up bait for frog fishing as well to flip timber or rocks we come across. I find being in a canoe gives you a nice clear view of the lake (good sunglasses don't hurt either) and it allows you to get close to structure and see what it is all about, find where the holes, hideouts and shady portions are. On this trip I was not able to pull any fish on timber, but did manage one fish on a follow-up bait.. more on that in a bit.

my third and final rodt on this trip was a spinning rod rigged with a wacky worm set-up. The Rideau or Cataraqui River has many low handing trees, and while sitting low in a canoe a spinning rod/reel gives you the best chances for a good skip up under this form of cover. I find the low angle can be awkward for skipping bait casters, but a sinch for spinning gear. The wacky rig also provided me with a bait that has a slower fall then my Gambler ugly otter meaning i could cover more of the water column in hopes of finding fish.. no fish were harmed in the use of the wacky rig on this day.

Bob keep it even simpler then I did, bringing only one rod and rigging it with a Snag Proof Bobby's perfect buzz frog.. fitting I know. He put in some serious work but only managed one blow up for his first skunk of the season.

Just like when fishing from a standard bass boat, you and your canoe partner should be working as a team each throwing different baits until you find whats working. It is all to easy to both grab a worm or a frog and start firing, but in situations like this you may be missing more fish then you know. Try using baits that reach different parts of the water column. Today Bob started with a buzz frog (top water) and i pitched a wacky worm (bottom)

Follow-up baits are also key to success. When my partner or I are frog fishing from a canoe (or boat) I always have a second rod rigged up with a follow-up bait such as a gambler Ugly Otter. This came in handy on this trip when the above fish blew up on Bob's buzz frog and while he finished his retrieve I quickly grabbed my otter and flipped into the hole left by the fish.. BAM.. fish on,  before Bob could even get his frog back to the boat.. now that's team work (thanks for the assist Bob)

What I love about canoe fishing is how close it allows you to get to the water, and the fish. It truly gives you a new perspective on bodies of water you have fished for years, and those you are fishing for the first time..

Although I have fished this portion of the Rideau from the shoreline for years, this was the first time I was able to get out and fish it properly. During this trip Bob and I covered just over 1km of water up the west bank(sunny side) and then back down the east bank (shady side). Our goal is to stretch that to 2km on tip number 2.. oh yeah and land a few more fish in the process

Trip Counter:   Trip3/Lake3 - Cataraqui River

Weapons of Choice:

Dobyns DX746 - Daiwa Lexa - Nories NF60 Frog
Dobyns 734C - Daiwa Tatula - Gambler Ugly Otter

Dobyns DX703SF - Daiwa Procyon - Bass Pro Shop Stick-O

Fishing Pigeon Lake - 2014 Photo Journal

The Ontario 2014 Bass Season kicked off this past weekend, and thankfully I got an opportunity to hit the water with a buddy (Kenny) to do some fishing on a lake that I have not fished in well over 5 years.

Pigeon lake is a very shallow fishery that leaves the bass little to no room to hide, yet unfortunately they seemed up to the challenge and Kenny and I managed only 8-10 fish between us.. some were small and others were smaller.. oh well, it was great to get out and kick off the season.. here is a short photo journal of Trip2/Lake2 of the 2014 bass season

Pigeon lake is a shallow anglers dream, loaded with undercut banks and more pads then a frog fisherman can even dream of. Kenny was gracious enough to plan the trip around my love of frog fishing so we packed lightly and started the day on some banks prior to moving to the pads

The first fish of the day came while flipping some banks, I was breaking in my Gambler Why Not bait and was happy that this little dude co-operated. First fish in the books

After failing to get more bank fish to co-operate we moved into the slop/pads, in search of some frog fish. The pads seemed pretty empty on this 24degree day with bluebird skies and we worked our way through two large sections without a single blow-up.. so it was time to move again

Once we moved a bit further south I hooked into two frog fish on back to back casts.. the day was looking up, or so we thought.. two more large sections later and not one more fish was boated.

Not ones to give up, Kenny made the call to head north and look for some slightly deeper water. We made the trek up the lake only to find that an algae bloom had severely stained the water on the north end.. a drastic change from the gin clear water on the south end. Still we dug out our jig rods and put in some work. After an hour with not luck, I switch up to a reactions innovation Skinny Dipper and quickly hooked into another small fish.. yep, time to move again.

 Out last stop of the day was one more long section of bank. With the sun now high in the sky and the temps reaching the high 20's we were sure the fish would be running for cover.. wrong again, although we manages two more fish, the one pictured above is the only one with any size to it, and that size is still small.

Trip Counter:   Trip1/Lake1 - Pigeon Lake

Weapons of Choice:

Dobyns DX746 w/ Daiwa Lexa - Spro Bronzeye Shad Frog

Dobyns 734C w/ Daiwa Tatula - Gamble Why Not

Dobyns DX744 w/ Daiwa Zillion - Reactions Innovation Skinny Dipper

Dobyns 735C w/ Daiwa Tatula - BassTek Jig

Bass Fishing in May: A 2014 Photo Journal from Lake Chautaugua NY

My 3rd annual trip to Lake Erie and Chautauqua lake was a much different experience then the previous 2 years.. with the crazy winter we just experienced the water conditions and the fish were in a very different mood upon our arrival on the first of  May. With water temps hovering around the the 45-48 degree mark the lakes were easily 5-10 degrees cooler then the past two years.

Our first stop is usually Lake Erie, either the Buffalo Harbour or Dunkirk, but the conditions were so bad that we decided to forgo Erie entirely,  cold water mixed with high winds and ice flows made it a dangerous option, and although I love to fish, I do have my limits.

When we arrived at Chautauqua we decided to fish the North end on Day 1. This saved us a good 20-30 minuted commute from our residence and since it appeared we were the only people crazy enough to be on the lake, we had the launch and water to ourselves.

Surprisingly enough after spending a good chunk of the morning in deeper water, we decided to duck into a back channel to see if any fish were coming in shallow.. sure enough my first Bass of 2014 came off this drop shot in 3 feet of water.. who'd a thunk.

 

As always when on Chautauqua we stay at a nice place called "Maple Bay Get-A-Way" on the south side of the lake. The accommodations are nice and the view is killer

Day2 we decided to stick with our shallow water success from day 1 and fished my favourite area on Chautauqua.. the docks.. The bite was on and we had 3 fish by the time we finished two rows

 

The pattern was very easy to get on, by the time we finished 4 dock sections we could cut back to fishing only the outer 3rd of the docks and focus on the font and back comers.. no middles, and if you were not bit during the fall or first hop.. bring'er back and move on

People throw around the term "cookie-cutter" fish quite frequently, as if it's a bad thing, but when the cookie-cutters are around the 3lb mark, it aint such a bad thing.. these fish are well fed

As you can see the weather was not great, we spent the entire weekend in our rain suits trying to keep as dry and warm as we could. But when the fishing is as good as it is on Chautauqua, you don't really worry about conditions. 

A great view of the BassTek jig and Jig sling that I used almost all weekend long. Great quality bait, not once did a fish come un-stuck, and the sling keep my trailer in place for the first 10 fish of the day (and then I only replaced it do to arms being ripped off) The Jig pictured is their Football Jig in the Black/Brown and Green Pumpkin (HERE)

A pic of Kenny working his jerk-bait around the Bell tower, you should have seen him jump when that Bell started ringing to mark 12 noon.. almost lost him there.

Another nice jig fish. The bit may not have been hard, but they were sure swallowing these baits

Spinner baits have always been hot on Chautauqua, but this weekend it was not exactly stellar conditions. The fishing was really slow and low, we threw spinner baits off and on each day, but only managed one spinner bait fish... it belonged to Kenny

 

When not tournament fishing I could catch this size fish all day, what a blast, and even in the cold water they had some fight to'em

 

 

Not one for posing for pics, I usually have to snap shots of Kenny when he's not looking. Here he is with one of our smaller fish, nice work Kenny 



Tell me you could pass this spot up? not me, never, no way.. I'd like to tickle each piece of timber, see who's home

 

Man these Chautauqua lake fish are pretty, nice healthy shine and fat, fat bellies. Believe it or not this guy was pushing 4lbs.. nice work Brian

Gorgeous sunrise on Sunday morning.. that's why my church is the lake

 

After giving him the gears about hooking into more fish, i got cocky and tried to snap a pic while holding it up in his face, Kenny decided to reach in and attempt to make it look like his

PS: I have to show him up when I can, he taught he how to fish (really fish) and constantly beats me on the water

I don't think there is much more I can say about this one.. best fish of the trip for me

 

 



Kenny and Rick hard at it, on one of their Smallie spots. Brian and I snuck up for a visit before moving on up the lake

 

This weekend getaway is usually all about the smallies, but with these conditions the bite was tough. I know both Rick and Brian hooked into some nice ones, but this little guy was all I could manage.. BassTek jig in the grass

A local angler walking the shoreline let us know the 1,500 Musky are stocked in Chautauqua each year, and that it was the #4 Musky lake in the US.. we shrugged and said that we had never hooked into one.. then promptly hooked into 3.. this little guy was contribution.

 

 



 

Kenny hooked into the largest Musky of the trip, it would have been about 30 inches. Not having a net big enough to land it, he sent me in with the pliers to shake him off.. needless to say he spit the hook before I got in there and Kenny ended up with it in the back of his head.. I snapped this pic after offering to help remove it

A new favorite jig trailer of mine in the Berkley Havoc Pit Chunk, what a great action it they have. You may notice that this is not the same BassTek jig I was using on day 2.. remember to re-tie or you loose the things you love.

This is a shot is from Saturday, the Walleye opener on Chautauqua, I cant image no matter the conditions that a lake of this caliber would be anywhere near as empty in Ontario.

 

Since I only fish this lake once a year, I don't mind sharing my spots in pics, in this photo there is a a reference that you will notice in similar pics from the past two years, this spot always produces... but Ill leave the wheres Waldo"ing to you

 

 

 

My fellow anglers are not as photo happy as I am, but on occasion I make them stop to commemorate the times.. nice fish Brian

 



 

Home sweet home.. see ya next year Chautauqua

Weapons of Choice for this trip:

Dobyns 734c - Daiwa Tatula - Toray Finesse Braid - BassTek FootBall Jig - Berkley Havoc Pit Chunk

Dobyns 735 Coalition - Daiwa Advantage - Toray Superhard - Gann's Jig - Berkley Havoc Pit Chunk

Dobyns Dx742 - Daiwa Lexa 2500 - Daiwa Samurai Braid/Toray Finesse Fluoro - Robo Worm