CHAUTAUQUA LAKE UPDATE - SPRING 1999
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Annual 1999 Spring Netting Survey is now complete and preliminary results indicate a Healthy, Stable Fishery. The DEC annually puts 9 Trap Nets to capture Muskies for their Musky fingerling / fry program at the Chautauqua Lake Hatchery. The nets are kept in the water for 21 days to also enable the Biologists to collect data on other species in the lake and determine the "State of the Fishery" for 1999. Almost all the preliminary results are good with the highlights as follows.
1: The DEC caught over 350 Muskies in their nets in 21 days. This is probably a record take for Muskies in this lake. They also plan to stock Muskies in the lake this Summer with last year's total (1998) being over 20,000 six to seven inch fingerlings. The bottom line here is that the Musky fishing is Good and will continue to improve in the coming years. I personally caught and released two of these leviathans this year while fishing for Walleyes, one of which probably exceeded 50 inches...
2: The DEC noted hundreds of small ( 2 - 4" ) Crappies in their nets which indicate a good class year coming up. If these fish are not too heavily predated on, we should see a Crappie's Resurgence in 2 Years... This is good news because the Crappie population is down to one of its lowest points in many years. This popular fish has been sorely missed in the last several years and an excellent class year is exactly what the fishing doctor ordered..!
3: The Walleyes continue to dominate the lake as once again the nets revealed a large population of mature Walleyes. The infamous large 1993 Class Year appears to finally have become legal size which should lead to excellent Walleye Fishing this year. The vast majority of the Walleyes netted were in the 14 - 18" range and appeared fat and healthy. My Annual Trip to this lake in May produced a good week of fishing with over 50 Walleyes caught. The Majority of these fish were caught in the bay slightly to the North of Prendergast Point in front of We Wan Chu Cottages (where I always stay)...
4: A good population of 8 - 10" Perch was also noted. These fish are excellent table fare and at the 10" size, are easily cleaned. The people staying at We Wan Chu Cottages caught many large Perch fishing off the Dock with Minnows and Worms with one group catching over 40 Good Size Perch one morning....
One disturbing note was the presence of White Perch in the nets. Some of these fish were as large as 10"... This little predator has some nutritional value but is a threat to the native Perch population. These fish are palatable if cleaned and eaten promptly.
This lake for many years has been called a Fish Factory... All of the above Data indicates that it will retain this title in the coming years...
JOSEPH FISCHER
FISH COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, N.Y.S.C.C.
REGION 9 DIRECTOR, N.Y.S.C.C.