Largemouth bass are abundant in shallow, plant-dominated parts of Chautauqua Lake. Photo by John Jablonski III

I have fished on Chautauqua Lake each summer since I was five, but as I fished the lake in late summer of this year, I felt as though I no longer knew the lake. The lake has changed so much that it felt as if I were fishing on an entirely different lake.

In the late 1970s, I caught quite a few muskellunge. Over the last 20 years, I have concentrated more on smallmouth bass fishing and have caught some nice fish over the lake’s rocky bottom sites. Nighttime smallmouth bass and walleye drift fishing in these rocky bottom areas between the inside weedline and the shoreline often produced exciting and memorable evenings.

Earlier in the summer, it appeared that in-lake plant growth was off to a slow start, and the lake was pretty clear in the north basin. Zebra mussels were seen everywhere – on dock stanchions, on rocks and on native clams. But then, by August, plants had pretty much covered all of the rocky bottom areas that used to be favored smallmouth bass fishing areas. They held nice populations of bass, and they were easy to fish because the rocky bottom didn’t support much plant growth. Now, my favorite spots to smallmouth bass fish were no longer fishable in the same way I had fished them for decades.

Instead of catching smallmouth bass from these spots on floating and diving crankbaits and spinners, I had to shift to fishing for largemouth bass with weedless worms and topwater baits. The panfish had changed too. The rocky bottom habitat around my dock used to be home to primarily rock bass and smallmouth bass, with the yellow perch hanging around deeper at the weedline. This summer, pumpkinseed sunfish came in with the abundant plant community. Eelgrass, or tapegrass, which commonly grows in clumps and patches here and there among the rocks, had exploded in numbers, growing to the surface over much of the formerly plant-free rocky bottom. Amidst the eelgrass were a number of other native plants.

My conversations with lake scientists indicate that other northern lakes are experiencing similar explosions of plants in areas that formerly did not support them. Researchers at the Cornell Biological Field Station at Oneida Lake have documented these changes on that lake. The zebra mussels are concentrating nutrients and sediments in the spaces between the rocks to which they attach, creating pockets of nutrient-rich fecal matter and other undigested materials that support lush plant growth. This is of significant concern, as plants themselves trap sediments, creating habitat for even more plants. These plant-free rocky bottom habitats, most often found on the most windswept shallows of the lake, may be lost over the next few years as sediments accumulate and bury them. Much of Point Chautauqua’s rocky bottom habitat is now plant covered, along with the shoreline from Dewittville to the Vikings Club. The habitat below what is now the Watermark restaurant is also plant covered. The distinct inside plant edge is gone from these sites. Plants are growing abundantly generally from twelve feet into a foot or so of depth.

What will be the long-term impact on the smallmouth bass fishery? Will it decline?

For me, I hope I get the time next summer to figure out how to consistently catch fish in this ever-changing Chautauqua Lake.

The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy is a private, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to preserve and enhance the water quality, scenic beauty and ecological health of the lakes, streams, wetlands and watersheds of the Chautauqua region. It is primarily funded through private contributions and grants. CWC has conserved more than 1,000 acres of land over the last 25 years and is the only local organization conserving lands in perpetuity for these purposes. Contact the CWC at 664-2166 or info@chautauquawatershed.org for more information.