Guys, I just don't know how ANY lake could compete in raw quantity with chautaqua lake. At long point, no minnow makes it to the bottom. Granted most of the fish are 8-9" perch. but my pb walleye was from chautaqua, the crappies can make the shallow waters turn silver in the spring and thats not counting a really good musky population.
my big regret was spending so much time icefishing other wastelands.
of course, I'm still on a fishing high from several great catches from the river... How can you want for ice- the morning after a trophy pike? (the first legal pike I have ever caught)..
Anyway, I suppose that I'll hit chapman dam a time or so. they stock it with trout and some of them are a bit bigger... and besides, If I were to ONLY fish chautaqua, I might as well give my tipups away.
I also am mildly interested in a "pike" lake. the last time I asked for such a thing I was told of a NY place that was just stuffed with hammerhandles... The news, though was a little off. NY got tired of feeding the blossoming pike populations the lakes quoto of stocked trout. So NY had this big campagne to raise awareness of the lakes "unique pike" population.
in short order, the masses have drained the lake of that high density pike population. Whats left IS healthier, but they're definitely harder to catch... win 1 for the state and its trout stocking, lose 1 for the travelling icefishermen that wanted to catch his first barely legal pike through the ice.
so when I hear about lakes with the dense pike population, I'm a bit of a skeptic.
post edited by jolie - 2009/12/11 16:02:00