Goin' fishing!

[brock ratcliff]

We had a great trip to Black Lake in northern Michigan back in July. As soon as we got home and I started fishing the mudholes we call lakes around here, I was ready to go north again! With time being a limiting factor I decided on a trip to Lake Chataqua. Anyone else ever fished it? I think Deerjunkie makes an annual bass trip there... Anyway we are heading out Saturday morning. Hoping to find some walleye, smallmouth, and perch...though we may just target sunfish since they are HUGE up there. Here are a couple of pics from our MI trip- hope to repeat in NY!

 

[brock ratcliff]

This one was fun! Kids with bluegills = fun. Kids with smallmouth = really fun!

 

[bowhunter1023]

Best of luck up there Brock! I bet old Mason will have a blast!!! :smiley_clap:

 

[brock ratcliff]

Thanks Jesse! Heck, that kid has a blast on Paint Creek. We went up there a couple of years ago (Chataqua). Sean and I took his son and Mason with us, so we just fished for perch and sunfish. I bet we caught 300 in a mixed bag the first morning. It's one heck of a fishery!

 

[bowhunter1023]

See that's how I like to fish! Let me rephrase that, I like to catch fish, not fish for fish!!! I'm no fisherman, so I'm there to catch shit and fill up a dinner plate!!!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Same here! But, like deer hunting, I enjoy hunting the suckers down. Regardless of what species they all have characteristics that will give 'em away. Like the crappies we've been hunting down the last few days- who the heck is crappie fishing in August?....Me! They gotta eat year 'round, so you just gotta go find 'em and make 'em eat what you put in front of them. It's the learning about, and fooling of the fish that makes it fun...but it isn't much fun ifn ya can't fool 'em! Sometimes, it's just fun to find some that don't require much foolin'!

 

[Mike]

Nice fishes Brock.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Thanks, Mike! Sure would be nice to have good water a little closer to home. I think if I lived up north with you all I'd never get any work done!

 

[DJK Frank 16]

Same here! But, like deer hunting, I enjoy hunting the suckers down. Regardless of what species they all have characteristics that will give 'em away. Like the crappies we've been hunting down the last few days- who the heck is crappie fishing in August?....Me! They gotta eat year 'round, so you just gotta go find 'em and make 'em eat what you put in front of them. It's the learning about, and fooling of the fish that makes it fun...but it isn't much fun ifn ya can't fool 'em! Sometimes, it's just fun to find some that don't require much foolin'!

That's what I was thinking when I first seen you guys were catching Crappies!! You are right though, they gotta eat!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Got 'em again today, but I had to look for them for a while. They were suspended in about 22 feet of water and pretty sluggish. Slow bite, and just nudging the jig. Had to switch to 1/32 oz too, which took forever to get down to the fish. Still, it was fun once I found 'em!
No fishing tomorrow as I need to finish getting ready to head to NY. Gotta get the boat packed up etc. What a pain, but hopefully it will be well worth it!

 

[huntn2]

Brock,

Chautauqua is where my in-laws live (alphamax10's parents). He has fished the lake a ton and will actually be up there this weekend.

 

[brock ratcliff]

I'll be danged. Not a bad place to live! When it comes to fishing, I really wish I lived a bit further north. Heck, if I were in Toledo I could be to the top of lower MI in four hours, or NY in about the same! These lakes around here are mudholes, and quality fishing is non-existant. You really have to work for fish down here. We get 'em, but it's always a hunt.

I'm tempted to ask for the "hotspot", but I don't think I'm going to need the info. From my very limited experience up there, there didn't seem to be a "bad" area to fish. I've never fished south of the bridge, and since we rented a house clear up at the north end I don't suspect I will fish south this trip either. Though I probably will run down to Bemus to fish the weedline channel for walley one morning. Lots of water up there, can't wait to cover some!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Have Alphamax send me a note if he'd like to do a meet and greet up there... I'll be there from about noon on Saturday until Monday sometime.

 

[Alphamax10]

Hey brock,

Huntn2 told me you were heading there and I'm actually standing by the lake as I write this. I was going to message you and see if you wanted to grab a beer but my wife's family is in from out of town so I couldn't get the time away. Hope you had a good time on the lake and let us know what you caught.

Nick

 

[Alphamax10]

View from my in laws back yard. Chautauqua lake

 

[brock ratcliff]

Nice view, Nick!

We arrived shortly after noon on Saturday, got things squared away and I went fishing Saturday evening. I wanted to run some weedlines and find a walleye or two. While I was out I met another guy (local fella) that was trolling the same weedline I was. He has a home on the south end of the lake but was fishing "up north" due to an algae bloom which had the lake looking like a slime pit. He said he thought we were trolling what he judged to be the best area for the conditions (lucky guess on my part I suppose). Anyway, I caught one walleye, which was the only one I saw all weekend! I also caught about a dozen little smallmouth, some small yellow perch and about a million white perch.

Sunday morning I decided to fish another area. I did get a few more lil smallmouth, a few yellow perch, and a bunch more white perch. It was apparent I needed to get away from the algae if I could. It wasn't as bad in the areas I'd been fishing, but was still nasty. Sunday afternoon the whole family went running around and shopping. While up in Mayville, I noticed the water looked to be in better shape than it was a few miles south. So, Sunday evening I made the four or five mile run north and found 'em! Nice yellow perch and smallmouth...the main reason I went to Chautauqua! I caught the majority of them on a blade bait while vertical jiggin. I switched over to that hoping to catch bigger perch, or none at all, and I could cover water and find 'em. It worked fairly well, but eventually the wind switched, and the pleasure boaters decided they needed to continue buzzing by and turning circles right where I was fishing....I coulda shot every stinking one of them! I folded up shop and finished the evening in fairly calm water after running over the the east side.

Monday morning I figured I'd kill a couple hours before the tribe woke up, so I ran back up to Mayville. I found the weedline I'd fished the evening before and dropped the VibeE. Soon as I pulled it I felt a fish hit it. It was a smallmouth of about 10-12 inches. SOB had the bait half-way to his tail, bleeding all over the dang boat. I dug the bait out of his guts and through him in the livewell... I'm a lawbreaker, but the thing was dead anyway. After that, it was all yellow perch. I kept 35 of them. Not bad considering I only fished for an hour and a half!

I had the boat out of the lake by 10am, and heading home by 11. Shortly after getting everything unloaded, Mason started in about going dove hunting, so we did that. He shot the first bird to pass at about 40-50 yards, and I killed the one flying behind it. They were the first and last birds we had shots at. Had a couple phesants feeding out in front of us so that made it a pretty good evening.

Not a bad weekend at all!

 

[brock ratcliff]

I almost forgot what I think was the best part of our trip.
The lake was covered with "Bassmaster-types" on Saturday. Bass boats with TV crews all over the place due to a big tournament. So we walk out on the dock and Mason starts catching perch. Along come Shaw Grisby fishing the docks with cameras rolling. He is probably 40 feet away from us when Mason says " Dad, that's that guy you cant stand to watch on TV!"... hahaha. Love that kid!

 

["J"]

I almost forgot what I think was the best part of our trip.
The lake was covered with "Bassmaster-types" on Saturday. Bass boats with TV crews all over the place due to a big tournament. So we walk out on the dock and Mason starts catching perch. Along come Shaw Grisby fishing the docks with cameras rolling. He is probably 40 feet away from us when Mason says " Dad, that's that guy you cant stand to watch on TV!"... hahaha. Love that kid!

Yeah not a big fan of Grigsby either Brock.... Glad y'all had a good time..... I've fished that lake a couple of years ago and had a pretty good weekend up there.... Most of the folks were friendly and would give you pointers if needed.....

 

[brock ratcliff]

I found the same thing with the local folks that fish the lake. A lot of people seemed to be pulling up stakes and leaving early due to the algae bloom, and there really didn't seem to be that many people actually fishing. I would have loved to have had rotten eggs to chuck at all the pleasure boaters though. Those fools would run by within feet while you were fishing. That stuff just sets me off, its a big lake and folks could show a little courtesy...they just don't. It wasn't too bad Monday, but Sunday and Saturday evening were awful!

 

[brock ratcliff]

That is an awesome avatar J!