Chautauqua Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Brown Trout, White Perch
Target species: Muskellunge, Brown Trout, White Perch
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Bemus Bay Water Toys.
The lake
Chautauqua Lake covers 13,214 acres in New York, across Chautauqua County. It is a lake: 96.8% of it is 40 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 70 feet (21.3 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 70 ft (21.3 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 96.8% of the water is 40 feet or shallower. We hold 43 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–5 ft: 13.7% of the water
- 5–10 ft: 16.7% of the water
- 10–15 ft: 19.3% of the water
- 15–20 ft: 17.2% of the water
- 20–25 ft: 5.8% of the water
- 25–30 ft: 5.5% of the water
- 30–35 ft: 9.1% of the water
- 35–40 ft: 9.5% of the water
- 40–45 ft: 1.9% of the water
- 45–50 ft: 0.8% of the water
- 50–55 ft: 0.3% of the water
- 55–60 ft: 0.2% of the water
- 60–65 ft: 0.1% of the water
Stocking: 75,030 fish, 2017–2023
NYSDEC records list 75,030 fish released into this water from 2017 to 2023.
- Muskellunge: 75,030 in 2017–2023
3 target fish, led by Muskellunge
- Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
- Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- White Perch — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
Also recorded here: Common Carp, Goldfish.
Water and conditions
Water clarity runs 2–10.6 feet on our readings, averaging 5.7 feet, from 218 readings. Our water temperature readings average 62°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.4. These readings span 2017–2025.
2 ramps and launches on this water
On this water we hold 2 boat ramps.
- Bemus Bay Water Toys phone +1-716-490-5797
- Chautauqua Marina website chautauquamarina.com
Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.
What is hard here
Wind is the limit, not the fish: 13,214 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Clarity swings from 2 to 10.6 feet between our readings — the water you meet is not the water someone photographed. Only 2 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.
Where this data comes from
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
