Fish the Drop-offs
The northern section of the lake is home to plenty of drop-offs will a lot more deep water than the southern section of the lake. These drop-offs that lead to depths of 15 to 30 feet or more will hold a lot of smallmouth bass. Drop-offs near rocks, weeds and creek mouths are good spots to search for feeding smallmouth bass.
Fish the Rocks
Chautauqua Lake has a lot more weeds in the lake than rocks, but there are some rocky areas in the lake too. Smallmouth bass can often be found in these areas, especially when deep water is nearby.
Fish the Points
There are some major points on the lake and these points will hold pretty much every fish that swims in the lake throughout the fishing season. Smallmouth bass often move onto the points as they search for food, so if you time it right, you may experience some very good fishing around the points. Early in the year, you can find bass along the shorelines near these points, but in summer and fall, you’re going to have better success fishing the deeper water near these points.
Fish the Creek Mouths
There are many creek mouths throughout the lake. At times, fish can stack up around these creek mouths as they feed on bait fish. This areas are usually better during the spring or fall or after a heavy rain.
Fish the Weeds
You will find a lot more largemouth bass around the weeds, but smallmouth bass can be found here too. Chautauqua Lake has so many weeds along the lake’s miles of shoreline and the deeper weed edge will hold plenty of smallmouth bass. You may not always find good numbers of smallmouth bass around the weeds, but there are smallmouth bass that will patrol the weed edges as look for perch to eat.
