Chautauqua Lake Crappies

Today the kids and I successfully got into the crappies. We put in on Chautauqua Lake at Mayville and went promptly to Mud Creek. Winds were 20MPH. The lake was rough but the creek was great. Water temperature was 53 degrees and the creek was full of fish. Three hours with minnows on slip bobbers and the kids landed 60+ fish.

The stream was very shallow at 2-3 feet in depth. We caught all our fish by the marina and discovered the channel had filled in a great deal by the bridge over the creek where it appears silt has filled it in to a depth less than 12 inches. This is a recent development as two years ago it was much deeper. I am not sure why this is the case. The stream was full of thousands of minnows, perch, and crappies. Jake had his first crack of filleting fish and did a great job. Jessica and Hannah both perfected their spin casting with slip bobbers.