The Bone-Jarring Muskies of Lake Chautauqua – Part I
By Chuck Bailey
The same ancient glaciers that carved out the Great Lakes created New York’s beautiful Lake Chautauqua. A constant stream of out-of-town tourists visits its shores each year. Among them are a multitude of hopeful anglers who dare to seek out what have come to be called “The fish of 10,000 casts” – the mighty and mysterious Muskie.
These angling adventurers bring their dreams of hooking and landing a monster to Lake Chautauqua, (Cha-taw-qaw), for two good reasons. First, it is a historic muskie lake. Dating back to 1890, it is the home of the oldest muskie hatchery in the country. And secondly, that’s where “Mike the Muskie Man” has his guide service. Together, these two factors greatly increase an angler’s chances of hooking a massive bone-jarring muskellunge.
Why better odds? Because Mike Sperry knows Muskie! And… Mike Sperry knows Lake Chautauqua. He was raised on its shores and has been fishing for these elusive creatures for more than thirty years.
As a result, Mike thinks muskies are neither mysterious nor elusive. “That whole thing about Muskie being the ‘fish of 10,000 casts’, that’s a myth. If it took 10,000 casts I wouldn’t fish for them.” Possessing a rare combination of knowledge, experience, and confidence – well, it’s easy to see why so many anglers want to spend a day in Mike’s boat.
The Making of a Great Muskie Fishery
What makes for a great Muskie fishery? “Habitat and forage,” explains Mike. “Chautauqua has a huge forage base – consisting of white and yellow perch, suckers, bullheads, bluegills, and emerald shiners; so there is a ton of food out in the lake."
"And equally important is the habitat. We have a lot of weeds as cover. Combine that with a lot of nutrients in the lake, and it produces big hatches of shiners and minnows each year.” Then Mike laughs, “Our muskies are hardly starving to death.”
Chautauqua’s spoiled muskies are living in a packed grocery store. As a result of such bountiful forage, the lake has great growth rates for its gamefish populations.
“In fact,” says Mike, “Chautauqua is used for a breeder lake for other lakes in the state and Pennsylvania. Every year the hatchery personnel go out and collect eggs from the muskie at Chautauqua. They take them back to the hatchery, fertilize them, incubate them, hatch them, grow the muskie fingerlings until they are about 11 inches, and then stock them in both our lake and other lakes throughout the region.”
The Muskellunge – An Eating Machine
Though Sperry is a multi-species fisherman, his angling heart belongs to the muskie. “Muskies are a great sport fish. In most lakes they are the top of the line predator, so obviously their numbers are going to be fewer than walleye and bass. In a really good lake, if you have one adult muskie per acre that’s really awesome. Most lakes are less than that.”
“A muskie are a real eating machine," says Mike. "And they’re a funny fish – very temperamental – not easy to catch. Still, they are such a great sport fish to catch, and even a small one fights like crazy. They’ll go acrobatic, and almost always go nuts when you get them next to the boat.”
“They are not a fish that is going to put up a long fight, like a steelhead. Usually the fight is over fairly quickly. It’s the initial explosive hit, a vicious tug-of-war to the boat, and then they might go crazy again when they see the net. They do not like to go in a net.”
“But they are a great fish to catch. Sometimes a bigger fish will come up out of the water and jump, and tail-walk like a tarpon. So there is something special about Muskie that keeps you coming back.”
A Trophy?
What defines a trophy? “It used to be 40 inches. But now that we are in a ‘catch-n-release” age, a trophy is defined as 50 inches. That means you are looking at 30 to 35 pounds or bigger depending on the time of year.”
When seeking out trophy fish, it is helpful to know if the behavior of the bigger muskies is different that of the smaller ones. “Yes and no,” says Mike. “Each will still be found on the weedlines, but there is a lot of bigger fish out in deeper water. The younger fish are more aggressive on the weedlines and they’ll hit smaller baits – but big or small, they are both great to catch.”
Location, Location, Location!
The location of muskie is often dependant upon seasonal changes. “They have a home range, but they do roam a lot – I’m talking miles. In the spring the muskie will go into the shallow bays to spawn. As the water temperature warms towards the high 50’s, those fish will start to disperse after the spawn.”
“Now they are looking for food. At this time the weeds are not totally grown, so the cover is not there like it is in late June, July, and August. So the muskie will disperse out into open water looking for forage, mainly for perch.”
“As the water warms up and the weeds start growing up, those fish will start using the weeds as cover and to find forage, (because the perch, walleye, everything will be in the weeds). You still have a lot of open water fish because there’s still a lot of suspended white perch and emerald shiners. So those muskies will go back and forth.”
“You might have some muskie stay in the weeds all year - there’s no reason for them to leave. The oxygen level is good, the water temperature is good, and there is forage there.” But Mike admits, “They often tend to be the smaller fish. Still, you will find both small and big muskies in the weedlines.”
Throughout the summer months, many of the larger muskies will stay out in deeper water, chasing the resident perch, and choosing not to compete with the smaller fish in the weedlines.
The Spawn
Spring and summer are relative terms, varying greatly on the calendar depending how far north or south you live. In New York state, Mike explains that “The spawn usually happens in May.”
Though the water temperature range for spawning is usually between 49 and 59, “The best is when the water temperature is at 50 degrees – that’s when those fish are really at the peak of the spawn. But that spawn can last until 59 degrees. Our muskie season doesn’t open until the 3rd weekend in June, and that is to protect them during the spawn.”
Their Competitive Cousin - the Pike
Anglers in the northern sections of the country often say that a lake is either a great pike lake or a great muskie lake, but rarely both. Explaining the reason for that, Mike says “Pike actually spawn earlier than muskies. So if a lake has both species, the pike are more numerous and usually over take their bigger cousins. The pike will be 3 or 4 inches long by the time the muskies start hatching. They will actually feed on the muskie fry. So they keep the muskie population knocked down.”
Lake Chautauqua doesn’t have a lot of pike, and won’t if the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) has their way. The few pike that have gotten into the lake through the Chadakoin River, are intentionally removed if caught in the spring muskie nets. So in Lake Chautauqua, the muskie are number one.
Those pike that escape the nets often hang out in the same places as muskie and hit the same lures, but Mike is quick to point out “Pike tend to like cooler water. Much cooler than muskies. So if there was big population of pike, during the summer they would tend to be out in deeper water.”
Lake Chautauqua is not like the Georgian Bay up in Canada, where in the summer the water might get to 70 degrees, but only for a short period of time. “Chautauqua has consistent surface temperatures in the summer of 80 degrees,” explains Sperry, “So, if we had pike in the lake, they would be out deeper.”
To Keep or Not to Keep…
The season for Muskies runs from the 3rd weekend in June to Nov 30th – and there is a minimum size limit of 40 inches. But all of Mike’s clients have been proponents of catch-n-release. “While guiding, I haven’t had a person keep a muskie yet,” reports Sperry. But he can remember from his childhood when the size limits were only 30 inches and many smaller muskie were kept. “I’d say 90% of all the muskie fishermen now are catch-n-release.”
Luckily, muskie are not known for being great table fare. Besides being full of bones, they have a real strong taste. “So if you want to eat fish, you are better off targeting walleye or perch, which are delicious.” In Mike’s mind, “There is no real reason to keep a muskie.”
A Preference for Casting
Wanting his clients to have the ultimate muskie experience, Mike definitely prefers casting over trolling. And while bucktails are often thrown, Sperry has a deep love for casting jerkbaits and crankbaits. To get the job done properly, our guide begins by providing his anglers with the appropriate rod.
The Proper Rods…
“We’ll be using anywhere from a 7 ½ to a 9 foot baitcasting rod. In the last few years we’ve gotten into the longer rods. You can certainly handle bigger fish a lot easier. And the longer rods are great for throwing bucktails and crankbaits. And you can do great ‘figure eights’ with them at the boat.”
Mike explains, “Muskies have a tendency to follow a bait to the boat, so you don’t want to pull that bait out of the water. You want to keep that bait moving and we catch a lot of fish right at the boat doing a figure eight. Longer rods make it easier to do.”
“So typically the rods will be a longer, heavier bass rod.” And while our guide strongly prefers baitcasters, he admits “I do have some clients that have some problems with baitcasters, and so I do have some heavy spinning rods for muskie. But if you are going to keep fishing for muskies, you are going to eventually have to learn how to throw a baitcasting rod and reel.”
Mike leans towards St Croix graphite rods, though he also like’s Bass Pro Shop’s ‘Pete Maina’s Signature Rods’ as well. When throwing diving cranks and bucktails he selects rods with a strong backbone and a little flexibility in the tip for castability. But when selecting a jerkbait rod he shies away from a limber tip. “You don’t want that rod to flex too much because with a jerkbait you are imparting all the action on that bait. A jerkbait doesn’t do anything by itself.”
So two different rods are selected depending on whether his clients will be throwing crankbaits or jerkbaits. The longer rods are used for the cranks, while “The jerkbait rod will have a tendency to be a little shorter. You can jerk to the side, but a shorter rod makes it easier.”
…and Reels.
Mike uses Abu Garcia 6500 series reels with 6.3:1 gear ratio, big spools, and the ability to burn a bait through the water if necessary. Naturally, you would think that the drag would play a key role in fighting a Muskie, but Mike states, “We tend to set the drags pretty tight. You don’t want a lot of slip.”
Why no slip in the drag? “We’re using non-stretch braided line, to get a better hookset. Muskies are hard to set the hook on, so if you don’t get that bait to slide in their mouth it’s difficult to get a hookset.”
“Even though a muskie will come up and hit a wooden jerkbait with tremendous force – if they sink their teeth into that bait, they may not have a hook in them, (you may think they are hooked, but they’re not). They’ve got their teeth hooked into that, they feel the tension, and they fight for a little bit, and then... they open their mouth and boom - that bait is gone.”
“So what you are trying to do is reef hard and get the bait in their mouth to move and get a hook in them. That is the reason for that stiffer rod, a tightened drag with little slip, and a no-stretch braided line.”
Braided Line
“I use 80 pound test braid, though 65 works good too. If you go to a 50 it has a tendency to cut into itself on the spool, and that doesn’t happen with the heavier line. And even an 80 pound braid like Power Pro maintains the same line diameter as 17 pound mono, so it’s not like you are throwing an anchor rope.”
Jerkbaits
Mike does more than just talk about his favorite jerkbaits, he makes them. “I make a 9 inch jerkbait called the Smilin’ Jack. They are made out of hard maple, and they work really well out here on Lake Chautauqua. I’ve used them in Kentucky, and other Lakes in this area, and we use them quite a bit.”
The reason for being constructed out of hard maple is because of its weight, (though addition lead weight is also added), and for durability. “It goes back to the fact that the muskies sink their teeth into your bait, and so hard maple is really hard.”
But Mike admits there are some other great jerkbaits on the market too. “There’s a gentleman down in Elwood City, Rich Newman, who makes a great jerkbait, (Newman Lures), and there is Leo Lures. These are all wood baits, but there are some good ones made out of ABS plastic too. The one I can think of that has been a great bait out here, is Sledge Hammer Lure Company. He makes a great jerkbait. It's injection molded and has rattles in it. Those baits hold up pretty well.”
Size
Though Mike has been known to throw jerkbaits from 6 to 10 inches in length, his favorite size is 9 inches. The ones he makes are turned down on a lathe, a lip is cut in, and lead weight is added. “But it is the angle of that lip that makes that bait dive. So every time you jerk, the bait dives. What I am also trying to do is get that bait to kick off to the side instead of a straight jerk and rise. You also want a slow rise, and for that bait to hang a bit. It stays in the strike zone longer and looks more natural.”
Color
Color can also play an important role in jerkbait selection, though Mike admits, “When muskie are on the prowl and feeding, it sometimes doesn’t matter what you throw – they are going to eat what’s ever out there.”
“But typically a black bait is going to be good all through the season. It provides for a big bold profile. On a bright sunny day they can see a black jerkbait coming through the water. So black is probably my number one color. (And it’s just a flat black – it doesn’t have to be anything shiny or sparkly). I also throw a lot of jerkbaits in a perch color.”
“We always have black tied on, but at times we’ll experiment with some other colors. If it is a bright sunny day then fluorescent orange and chartreuse will work well.”
Though his confidence colors will work anywhere, Mike suggests “When you get to a new area - you always want to match the hatch. So for instance, if I was going to go down to Kentucky (that is full of alewives or shad), the bright chartreuse may not be the way to go. You might be looking at the more natural shad color.”
When it comes to explaining the effectiveness of black, a beginner might wonder what it matches in nature. “Well, bullheads for one thing,” Mike reminds us. “But I think it is just the bold profile – it stands out and they can see it. And they react. A jerkbait elicits a reaction strike; they’re not really checking it out and being finicky about it. They see this dark bait coming through the water and think ‘I better hit it now or someone else is going to get it.’”
The Strike: Hunger or Impulse?
Where does Mike stand on the “hunger” verses “impulse” debate as to why a muskie strikes? “Half of it is hunger, and the other half is due to the fact that muskie have a lateral line that comes down their side that allows them to feel that bait’s vibration in the water, and that triggers an natural instinct ‘Here’s something in my zone; I’m either going to kill it or it is going to be gone’.”
Sperry shares this example, “One of the tackle shops down here has an aquarium that contains one or two muskies from the hatchery. I have watched those muskies in the tank when minnows are thrown in. When they are ready to feed, they’ll stalk those minnows. But other times they will hit it and just leave it. They’ll swim away from it after killing it, and the minnow will just float to the bottom of the tank. And I think adult muskies react the same way. Their instinct says to kill it, even if they aren’t hungry. It’s just the predator in them.”
When to Switch Up
How long will Mike have his clients throw a particular color or size before he decides to switch up baits? “That’s a good question. Usually it’s when we’re not moving fish. If I haven’t seen a muskie in the first hour or so, I’ll start switching things up. My client and I won’t be fishing the same thing. I might have a client off the bow throwing a crankbait, and I might be throwing a jerkbait off the back, or visa-versa. I might be throwing a bucktail up shallow or a crankbait on the weedline. But if I haven’t been moving anything in an hour, I start switching things up.”
Jerkbait Appearance and Maintenance
Despite the fact that muskie baits take a beating, Mike rarely refinishes them. “Fact is, many baits don’t really work well when they are brand new. Muskie don’t seem to like those really shiny new baits. You’ve got to get some teeth marks or hook marks on them, or they need to be banged up a little bit.”
Do jerkbaits get knocked out of tune after fighting a muskie? “No. Most jerkbaits don’t have to be tuned at all. Crankbaits, however, especially the baits with the metal lips will often get out of tune.”
Diving Crankbaits
When it comes to choosing diving crankbaits, Mike turns to two manufactures. Previously mentioned during the topic of jerkbaits, Newman Lures, produces some of Sperry’s favorite diving baits as well. “He makes cedar crankbaits that I use a lot. They come in different sizes, and are designed with different bills. One dives only four feet, another will allow me to get down to 10 or 12 feet on a cast.”
It’s very rare that Mike will cast a crankbait to go deeper than 12 feet. “If fish are out deeper, then we have to switch to trolling to get down to them. It’s tough to make an efficient cast and try to get down 15 or 20 feet.”
Another diving bait our guide is fond of comes from Esox Research Company. “I really like the Double and Triple D’s that Esox makes. They are neutrally buoyant, (http://www.esoxresearch.com/) so as soon as you crank that bait down it will pretty much stay in that zone. After you crank it down to it's full depth, you can almost work it like a jerkbait – twitching and jerking it back to the boat. The Double and Triple D’s get down quickly, and stay in the strike zone longer, before coming up at the last moment at the boat.”
Crankbait Color, Action, and Body Style
Mike sticks with the same color choices for his crankbaits as his jerkbaits. Black and perch colors are the favorites. Like the jerkbaits, the diving cranks are thrown on braided line.
Mike believes muskie prefer wide wobbling cranks over those with tight wiggles, and one piece straight bodies rather than jointed models. His reason is simple, “I can actually work a straight diving crank like a jerkbait. I also believe it provides a wider wobble and it is easier to control.”
Erratic Bait Behavior
If novices are paying attention, they may be picking up on the fact that the ability to produce erratic bait behavior can be a major factor in catching muskie. “A long steady retrieve is not going to be as effective as a jerky erratic retrieve. You want to create a distressed look. Even when we are casting shallow with crankbaits we will call them ‘twitch baits’ because we are constantly moving them – stop-n-go, jerking them.”
Floating, Suspending, or Sinking?
There isn’t a need for fast-rising floaters; the suspending or sinking crankbaits are preferred. The occasional exception occurs when Mike chooses to twitch a shallow diver over a weed bed that is two or three feet below the surface. In that situation a sinking model would not work well.
Leaders
To attach his baits to the line, Mike uses leaders. “On my jerkbaits I am using a wire leader. And the reason for that is the stiffness. You don’t want that bait to overcome the leader - then the hooks get caught up on the leader. Often we will throw a glider and that bait has a lot of side kick, almost turning 90 degrees to the boat. So you don’t want those hooks getting up into the line.”
One might suspect the leaders are used primarily because muskie are toothy critters, to which our guide explains, “That’s part of it, but no, not with the new lines that are out. On all of my casting I have gone to a fluorocarbon leader. I use 80 pound test, and tie these 9 to 12 inch fluorocarbon leaders to a heavy snap and a ball-bearing swivel.”
“Naturally, you have to check them every once in a while, because sometimes you will get a fish that will roll up in a leader. Besides the sharp teeth they have a very sharp gill plate that can nick the line. So you do have to check them, but the 80 pound fluorocarbon is very, very durable.”
“I prefer fluorocarbon over a wire leader. Wire leaders get kinks in them – they get weak and you have to constantly check them. With fluorocarbon you just run your hand up the leader and if they’ve got a bad nick, you just retie. They are a lot easier to replace than wire.”
Surprisingly, Mike's leaders are not long. “I like the leader to be at least an inch longer than the bait I am throwing; and that’s with wire or fluorocarbon. So a long casting leader is about 12 inches.” Mike ties his leaders using a double loop through the eye of his snap or swivel before tying the knot and has never had any failures with breakage.
Hook Modifications
Whether casting or trolling, floating weeds can be troublesome with three large trebles hanging down. So often Mike will modify his baits by cutting off a prong on a treble hook or actually removing a treble. Which treble is sacrificed? “Usually it is the back hook.”
“Muskies will typically hit a bait in the head, or in the center of the body. Very seldom do you get one on the back hook. If you have a three-hook bait, 90% of the time they will be hooked on the middle or front hook. If the back one is in the fish, it is only by accident because it was flopping around and got caught beneath the jaw or something. Even when we are trolling at high speeds with the bigger baits, those fish are caught on the center or front hook, because they over take that bait and hit it from the side.”
Another hook modification Mike makes has to do with shank length. “I find that a lot of muskie manufacturers will put a shorter shank hook on. I prefer a longer shank. I like that hook to be out and away from the body a little bit. I don’t want that hook to be tight up against the body. So if the bait initially carried a 5/0 muskie short-shanked hook, I simply go to a longer 5/0 hook. I use Mustad hooks on my baits.”
Rarely does Sperry make any other major modifications to his jerkbaits or crankbaits. Though he does admit, “I carry a bag of sharpie pens and I am constantly adding a little detail here and there.”
<To Be Continued>
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In Part II - our guide, Mike Sperry, shares how to elicit strikes from followers, how and where to cast jerkbaits and diving crankbaits, and the intricacies of using the figure eight at the boat. He discusses the reasons for lost fish, how to use electronics properly, and the effects of light, wind, and weather on the behavior of muskie.
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Mike Sperry is a NYSDEC Licensed Guide who has been fishing the waters of Chautauqua Lake for over 30 years. Mike offers guided fishing trips for muskellunge, walleye, bass and panfish. His specialty is casting for muskies. Mike is the founder and past president of the Chautauqua Lake Musky Hunters from 2002-2007. Mike has also fished with Pete Maina during the filming of the television show called The Next Bite while filming the episode entitled Chautauqua Muskies Unleashed. To contact Mike or learn more about his guide service - click on
"Chautauqua Reel Outdoors".
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