Chad,It took a while to track down information on Chautauqua Lake's Biggest Muskie.Ron K. getting info from Pat Cory and Waren Berry and looking at a very old book that verified their findings they found what they believe is the biggest muskie recorded from Chautauqua Lake.The angler was Bernie Anderson the Outlet bait shop dealer and hunter, trader ,trapper, beaver pelt flesher, story and poem reciter, soft shell crab catcher extraordinaire and his Chautauqua Muskie was 54" at 46 lbs. The mount hung on the wall at the old Beechwood Restaurant for years.Many thanks to Ron K. for doing all the reserch to find out for us.


Capt. Larry D. Jones
Repeatability Is 90% Of The Hunt!
www.mostlymuskies.com

Your the best Larry! Thanks for looking that up for us. Just wanted to know what we have a chance at in that lake. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

I saw a picture in a book that was really old that said 70 inch Musky netted at Chautauqua. The book is one of those Complete Guide's to Pike&Muskie Fishing I think they still have the book at Ganders.

I find it hard to believe that a Chautauqua Strain Muskie could get to 70 inches.According to what I read from a report from Dr. John Cassleman that Chautauqua Strain Muskies top out at 54 inches.Now if the Strain was Riveriene / Great Lakes Spotted Muskies I could believe maybe a rare muskie to 61",only because 60 inchers have been caught!

Capt. Larry D. Jones
Repeatability Is 90% Of The Hunt!
www.mostlymuskies.com

Looked up the book today it said 65-70 pounds netted in 1940 picture looked like it was a huge fish, still alive in the pic.

A lot of fish sizes were exagerated in the past,some even are today! The muskie was caught in a net,was not officaly weighed and is not listed in any other offical publication varifying its catch.Then looking at genetics of the Chautauqua Strain Muskie according to Dr. John Cassleman their overall legnth is 54".I could see one possibly stretching past 54" to maybe 57 inches,but to get 65 to 70 lbs from a fish that geneticly should top out at 54 inches is nearly impossible.I would say that the story was fabricated.We had Chautauqua Strain Muskies stocked in the Niagara River back in 1972 by the Canadians.Those fish were barred and never reached over 50 inches,but there has been a 56" X 29" Great Lakes Spotted Muskie caught & released.


Capt. Larry D. Jones
Repeatability Is 90% Of The Hunt!
http://www.mostlymuskies.com

Could very well be...they have the book at the Rochester Public Library if you want to check it out.

The Complete Fishing and Hunting Libray: Fishing for Muskie and Pike

p. 27