Start Planning Your Fall Fishing Trip to Chautauqua County, New York
Last Fall, I got lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, receiving a phone call from my good friend Dena Vick, asking if I was available to go on a fishing trip she had planned but ended up having a conflict that kept her from attending. Silly question! Of course, I could go on a fishing trip, especially since it involved species and a location I haven’t experienced!
The details were a trip to New York to fish for fall-run steelhead following their fall spawning run out of Lake Erie and fall walleye on Chautauqua Lake & Lake Erie. While I have fished steelhead extensively out west, I had only fished walleye on a couple of the big river systems in Oregon, so I had limited experience with this species. The trip was with six other outdoor writers, which added to the charm because it’s always an incredible experience comparing notes with other anglers from different walks of life, especially with other angling backgrounds.
I flew into Buffalo, NY, and rented a car to drive down to Chautauqua Lake, where we had a house for our week at “fish camp.” The drive from Buffalo to the camp was simply stunning. The fall colors were flying proudly, and I was awestruck with such a gorgeous area. I had no idea that New York was such a beautiful place.
After settling into fish camp, we all received our schedules for the following few days of fishing. Unfortunately, our steelhead fishing had been canceled since there had been no rain, and the rivers were exceptionally low, with no fish starting their yearly migration upriver. I was a bit bummed because I thought it would be incredible to experience the juxtaposition of West Coast versus East Coast fishing for steelies. Still, like any fishing, you can only deal with the conditions Mother Nature dishes out.
My schedule indicated I was going to fish Lake Chautauqua for two days, split with a Lake Erie trip in between. On Lake Chautauqua, we would divide our time fishing muskies and walleye. It sounded like a winning strategy, and I was excited to see how the trip unfolded.
The first morning dawned clear and crisp, with the bonus of an amazing sunrise greeting me as I made my way to the Lake Chautauqua boat ramp to fish with Capt Frank Shoenacker. When I met Frank, we reviewed our strategy for the day as I stowed my meager load of gear in his boat. I brought us lunches that we’d made at fish camp the night before, consisting of “Dagwood Sandwiches” and more clothing than I probably needed. A Texas boy feels a little cool on those brisk fall New York mornings.
Frank told me we would spend the low-light portion of the morning seeing if we could interest a musky into playing, and after that, we would target walleye vertical jigging. That sounded great to me since I’ve never caught a musky, and I had only spent a few days targeting walleye in the Northwest on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. Fishing in the Northwest, I’d only used bottom walkers and worm harnesses, so seeing a different technique sounded terrific.
We made a short run from the boat ramp to the north end of the lake and put out four rods with large musky plugs to start. We ran two flat lines with lead core line and two rods on planers. We trolled pretty fast, which allowed us to cover quite a bit of water. There was also an algae bloom on this end of the lake, which Frank thought benefited us in keeping the water below dark. He told me muskies are known to not bite well in bright light. We gave it our all but weren’t able to tempt any of the toothy denizens to play our game.
We stowed the musky gear and ran to the middle section of the lake where Capt Shoenacker had been doing well on walleye. Frank set us up with light spinning tackle and small flutter jigs, and he showed me how to use them, which wasn’t much different from other jigging techniques I’ve used before. What seemed to work best was raising the rod fairly quickly on the upstroke, but the key was snapping the rod down toward the water, which induced the jig to start its flutter toward the bottom. The fish all seemed to bite on the flutter down, but of course, you didn’t feel them until you began the rods sweep up. It was very rhythmic, and it kept me intent on trying to stay in the zone. Lift the rod, snap it down while watching the line spiral into the water, and repeat. Fairly often, a fish interrupted this process, which just helped keep me locked in on our pursuit.
Frank gave it his all to put me on the fish, and we caught lots of other species, but our targeted fish never came over the gunnel. Regardless, the day was amazing, and I learned a lot about how to target walleye with vertical jigs!
I noted a couple of things on Lake Chautauqua: the sheer amount of bait and game fish. We might not have caught our intended quarry, but we caught fish all day and an absolute slurry of different species. We caught black and white crappie, rock bass, silver bass, silver perch, yellow perch, and probably a couple I’m forgetting. It was pretty amazing! I think that was probably part of the issue in not finding any willing walleye because It seemed to me that there is so much natural forage in Lake Chautauqua that the walleye were fat, happy, and lazy with all the food just a tail wag away!
Back at fish camp, we had planned to have a fresh walleye dinner that evening. Several other writers had done decently that day, so we had plenty of walleye fillets to prepare. One of the writers, Jerrod Vila, prepared Walleye Paupiettes Buerre Blanc for the hungry crew (see the recipe at the end of this article). It was a simply fantastic meal. What might have been even better, though, was the company of six other writers from all walks of life with such different and varied fishing experiences. Over a great bottle or two of fantastic New York Riesling, we all talked way later into the night than we intended, but the conversations were ALMOST as fun as the fishing!
Several of us were slated to fish Lake Erie the following day with Capt T.J. Yetzer of Reel Time Charters. We drove up to Lake Erie on a cool, clear, and blustery morning while the landscape of New York continued its mesmerizing effect, with all the fall colors festooned amid the rolling landscape.
When we arrived at the boat ramp, Capt Yetzer told us we were in for a bit of a bouncy morning, which made sense with the wind not cooperating. He said we would slowly bounce our way out to the depth they had caught fish the day before and use bottom walkers and worms. We ought to find some fish if the wind didn’t make the lake untrollable.
True to his word, the ride out was a bit slow and wet, but thanks to the windshield and hard top, we were none the worse for wear by the time we arrived at the scene of the previous day’s fishing. The guys who’d fished the day before with Capt Yetzer had shown us pictures of their fishing day, and it had been dead calm, and the background looked like smooth glass! We definitely weren’t experiencing the same conditions!
Capt Yetzer got us each lined up with a worm harness and a bottom walker and told us to run the gear back until we were just ticking along the bottom. It didn’t take long, and Megan Plete Postol hooked up to our first fish. It gave her quite the tussle, and I think she might have been a touch disappointed when we drug a sheepshead over the gunnel. Being a Texas angler, it looked identical to a black drum, which we revere in small sizes for table fare. I was surprised when Capt Yetzer told us they are not considered good-eating fish. We let the fish go to grow bigger and fight someone else on another day.
It wasn’t long before we got into our next fish; from then on, it was a pretty consistent bite. I was surprised at how light the walleye bit. I sometimes felt a tick, but it was often just a sluggish addition of weight that relayed another fish had engulfed my worm. I even had a couple where my gear just went weightless. It was another great example of a highly engaging fishing style. I had to stay in tune with what was happening so I didn’t miss the tell-tale signal of another bite. What a fun morning we had!
That evening was a repeat of the day before, and we whipped up another fantastic fish dish, thanks to the bounty of New York’s Chautauqua County! And I do have to repeat how we were all pretty impressed with the New York Rieslings!
The final morning dawned rainy and cool. Thankfully, we had all brought good rain gear. Several of us were slated to fish with professional tournament angler Rob Oram. We tried the musky thing again for a couple of hours while the clouds and light were low. We even tossed some plugs and swim baits around a couple of back coves, but again, I wasn’t lucky enough to see a musky come over the gunnel, but honestly, it gives me an extra good excuse for another visit to Lake Chautauqua!
The clouds cleared a couple of hours into the morning, and it turned into another magical New York fall morning. The hillside colors were mesmerizing and warmed up to a very comfortable temperature. Oram decided it was time to go target walleye at a spot toward the North end of the lake. We made the run, and just like when I fished with Capt Shoenacker, we armed ourselves with small flutter jigs and went to work. Oram had forward-facing sonar on his boat, which was entertaining to watch. One thing that immediately became apparent was these fish weren’t super hungry or aggressive. It took some time to get any fish interested in our offerings, and it honestly reminded me of trying to play with an old fat house cat! They might watch the little furry mouse roll around the floor uninterestingly until you make the right combination of twitches. Then you see the predator emerge from their usual disinterested and aloof demeanor! That’s precisely what we saw on the FFS. You’d present the bait, and nothing would happen, but then all the sudden, you’d see a fish turn and start tracking the jig, and as often as not, you’d see them engulf the bait about the same time you’d feel a tap or heavy weight on your line as your raised the rod tip.
PREPARING FISH FOR THE TABLE
After each fishing day, we’d clean the fish for the anticipated fish dinner we’d put together back at fish camp. Luckily, Smith’s Consumer Products had shipped some samples for us, and I used them to prepare the fish for our meals.
That evening was a repeat of the day before, and we whipped I used Smith’s 7-inch Fillet Knife Combo to accomplish this task. It only took a few minutes, and I had the perfect fillets for our fish dinner! I should also mention that I like this knife’s stiffer blade. If you prefer flexible fillet knives, Smith’s certainly has you covered, but this fillet knife has that tiny bit of stiffness that makes filleting fish perfectly that much easier!
We also used the Smith’s 38-inch Insulated Kill Bag to transport our fish from the water to the table. These kill bags are so versatile, and being soft-sided they work almost anywhere. You’re not always trying to figure out how to fit an awkward hard-sided cooler somewhere, not to mention they insulate your catch like a dream. They also double up keeping your drinks cold on the way to the water! This bag has become one of my favorite go-to fishing accessories.
WALLEYE PAUPIETTES BUERRE BLANC
INGREDIENTS:
- 8-10 Walleye Fillets (Fish in the 17-18-inch range work well. The entire fillet fits the filling just right regarding length and thickness. If dealing with larger fish, the fillets can be butterflied to achieve a thinner “rollable” fillet. The goal is to have the fillet approximately seven to eight inches long and ⅜ to ½” thick.)
- Grated Parmesan or Asiago Cheese
- Butter
- Dry White Wine
- Olive Oil
- Fresh Parsley
- Toothpicks
- Shallot
- White Wine Vinegar
FILLING:
- Fresh Pre-Cooked Crab
- 1 Lemon
- ¼ Cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise
- 10-12 Ritz Crackers
- 4-5 Fresh Garlic Cloves – Pressed
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 Celery Stalk
- 1 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ Tsp Smoked Paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl while pulling the crab apart with a fork unit the pieces are small, and thoroughly mix. Zest the entire lemon with a microplane, using all the juice. The consistency of the mixture should be tacky to the point where it holds together when rolling into a ball. If it’s too dry, add a little more lemon juice or mayo. If it’s too wet, crumble in a few more Ritz Crackers.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brush the walleye fillets with melted butter or olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Place a spoonful of the filling on the end of a fillet, roll it up, secure it with a toothpick, and set aside. Once all the fillets are seasoned and rolled, heat an oven-safe pan over medium-high heat and add a pat of butter and a splash of olive oil. Place all paupiettes in the pan upright, and sprinkle a healthy amount of grated Parmigiano over them. Add enough white wine to the pan so the fillets are in a quarter inch of vino, along with the juice of half a lemon.
Bake for approximately 14-15 minutes. You’ll know it’s close to done when the walleye fillets flake easily, and the Parmigiano begins to brown.
SAUCE:
While the walleye fillets are in the oven, prepare a lemon Buerre Blanc sauce. This is a simple sauce, so don’t let the fancy French name fool you. Heat both butter and olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Finely dice a shallot and add to the pan. Cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. DO NOT LET IT BROWN. Add in approximately one cup of white wine, a couple of splashes of white wine vinegar, and the juice of an entire lemon, being careful no seeds end up in the pan. Reduce over medium-high heat. Once the mixture has been reduced by half, lower the heat and add an entire stick of COLD Butter, one pat at a time, and whisk until each pat is fully dissolved before adding the next. Keep adding the butter and whisk non-stop until the entire stick is incorporated into the sauce. At this point, it should be a velvety, creamy lemon sauce. Remember, the butter HAS to start refrigerator cold, and you can’t stop whisking, or the sauce will separate.
Plate the Walleye Paupiette, drizzle with the Buerre Blanc sauce, and garnish with a sprinkle of parsley.
Serve with Butter Garlic Couscous or Risotto, and any fresh green vegetable. Wilted spinach or roasted asparagus complement this dish perfectly. Add a wonderful chilled New York Reisling for the perfect after-fishing meal!
TO PLAN A TRIP FOR YOURSELF CONTACT:
Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau
716-357-4569
Infinity Charters
Capt Frank Shoenacker
585-406-5764
Reel Time Charters
Capt T.J. Yetzer
585-764-2005
Julie Szur
Orvis Endorsed Fly Guide
716-481-6619
TRAVEL TIPS:
Fly into Buffalo and rent a car for stunning Fall foliage views.
Plan a day to visit local wineries.
ABOUT SMITH’S SPORTING GROUP
Smith’s Sporting Group is a multifaceted, diversified company that supports a lifetime of outdoor pursuits and includes Smith’s Consumer Products and Tanners Team Sports. Tracing its roots to 1886, Smith’s Sporting Group designs, manufactures, and distributes key products and accessories for anglers, hunters, campers, and hikers, as well as those that love baseball, softball, and pickleball.
