New "crappie" fishermen of Lake chautaqua

[jolie]

Well, I thought I ought to introduce myself.

I am one of the proud, dedicated and one of many "crappie" fisherman of lake chautaqua. Calico (its more respectable name) is prolly the biggest reason I have a NY license... An expensive 70$ "investment".

Since I see a few different people mention the lake without really giving much information, I thought I would register. Maybe I'll brag a little.. but more specifically, I thought that it would be a shame if CRAPPIE.com didn't have much information on one of the biggest hotspots in Western NY.

Now as far as information goes, I'm a little "crappie" myself, I'm Strictly a shore fishing, Night venturin' and spring running angler.

Thats a pretty large liability for chautaqua. Shoreline room is very limited! with cottages and dots nearly completely chocking off access to the lake shore. Morover, near as I can tell, crappies only crowd into the shore in just a few shallow, canal locations.
Well, its my lot to bear. I do good enough to motivate me,and other possibilities are either small fish, very sparse population or a heck of a long drive.

... So if you've got questions, ask! as I said on the other thread, crappies showed up On schedule far earlier than the crowds knew two weeks ago.

The "crowd" has been up there since at least Monday March 22. Some of the crowd was deterred by the cold front late last week. That cold front did seem to chase away the schools from the canals... but they're back... I will prolly fish tonight and tomarrow.

[joejv4]

Glad you could join us - as you've noticed, we get plenty of questions about Chautauqua and don't have a lot of folks to answer - most have been there, but not recently.

[Fatman]

When did a fishing license in NY start costing $70 dollars??????????????

[joejv4]

When did a fishing license in NY start costing $70 dollars??????????????

That would be a non-resident license. It started costing that the same time a resident license started costing $29 - 10/1/09

Hence the reason we not-so-affectionately refer to our home state as the "Vampire State"

[GRIZZ]

Hey Jolie. I live 3 miles from the lake and have been sorta reporting on mainly it's decline over the years since I started here. I fish it a lot in the spring and fall but fish elsewhere during the summer when it's choked with weeds and summer crowds. I've lived here for most of my life.

The NY licenses are getting ridiculous along with excessive policing both around the lake and on the water. The Sheriff boats on the lake are Nazis. NY taxes people to death as well. Many lake properties are getting sold to rich outsiders now. Taxation on the lake is criminal. I know I sound negative, but I'm normally not. Drive around at night around the lake and a third of the vehicles you see are law enforcement. It's ridiculously unnecessary and they are aggressive and confrontational. Then there is the condition of the lake which I'm not even going to get started on. It may still seem like a nice lake to someone who hasn't been here for as long as I have, but compared to what it used to be, it's a wreck.

[REDBOAT]

H.. yeah when I was up this winter I almost fainted when I had to shell out I think 35 bucks for a 7 day!... Oh well...Hey Joli, maybe you can strike up a conversation with a home owner there and maybe they will grant you access.. I can rememener when I was young and ice fishing up in Dexter.. We had my late Grandfather with us once and we asked a homeowner if we could cut though.. he let us and we braught him back some fish to say thanks... then on he had no problems letting us on though his properly were as it would have ben probably a 1.5 mile walk to that spot other wise...

[Joe211]

It's $70 now!!! Man I thought CA was bad. I haven't lived there for about a decade now but when I left in 02 I swear it was like 20 bucks!