Chautauqua Lake is home to a lot of panfish. If you’re looking for action, you can usually just pick a weed line or a dock and you can find some panfish. Perch, crappie, bluegill and other sunfish are caught here. If you’re looking for bigger panfish, the spring is best as perch and crappie move into the shallows to spawn first. Bluegill move in later to spawn and many anglers will fish for them during the spawn.
When the spawn is over, you will usually find smaller panfish in the shallows. The anglers that consistently catch the better sized panfish will usually be fishing deeper water as these fish will suspend out over deeper water.
