Local Sports

White Perch Fishing Challenge is good for Chautauqua Lake

For generations, Chautauqua Lake has been known for musky fishing, and still is, but was also well known for outstanding walleye fishing. But over the past several years, anglers have noticed another fish becoming increasingly difficult to avoid: the white perch.

Not native to Chautauqua Lake, white perch are believed to have been illegally introduced in the early 1980s and quickly established themselves. Today, they are considered a highly abundant, underutilized fish in the lake.

That has many anglers wondering: Could all those white perch be part of the reason we’re seeing fewer young walleyes?

It is the most recent big walleye question for anglers.

It’s an important question, but one that deserves a scientific answer rather than an assumption.

White perch are aggressive feeders. They consume zooplankton, insects, minnows, fish eggs and young fish, and they can compete with juvenile walleyes for food. That makes it reasonable to wonder whether a very large white perch population could be affecting walleye recruitment.

But I'm not sure that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation fisheries biologists have identified white perch as the cause of the walleye decline. The latest DEC information says walleye abundance remains near its long-term average, but has been slowly declining because of poor reproduction since 2020. That’s why DEC held public meetings in Mayville and Bemus Point in March to discuss the walleye population and future management. The goal is to understand what is happening and determine what can be done to improve the fishery.

So, what can be done?

Eradicating white perch from a 13,000-acre lake isn’t a realistic management option. But reducing an exceptionally abundant population through angler harvest is certainly worth exploring. That’s where an interesting grassroots effort entered the picture this summer.

Captain Mike Sperry of Chautauqua Reel Outdoors, the well-stocked bait shop located inside Ashville Bay Marina, organized the lake’s first White Perch Challenge Fishing Tournament. The July 25 event invited anglers to fish from shore or boat anywhere on Chautauqua Lake with each angler weighing up to 25 white perch.

The response was impressive. Forty adults and five youngsters participated, bringing 750 white perch to the scale -- 219 pounds of fish (white perch). That isn’t going to eliminate white perch from Chautauqua Lake, but that’s not the point. Sperry and the participating anglers are attempting to turn a problem into a successful participation.

The White Perch Challenge Fishing Tournament demonstrates something valuable: anglers don’t have to wait for a government program to become involved in fisheries conservation. So thanks to that first effort, a second White Perch Challenge Fishing Tournament is set for Aug. 22 and anglers are invited to fish from shore or boat anywhere on Chautauqua Lake from 6 a.m. until noon, followed by a 1 p.m. weigh-in. Entry cost is $20, youngsters 12 and under fish free, each angler can weigh up to 25 white perch. Register at the bait shop with Mike Sperry. There is 100 percent payback to the top three finishers. That's nice extra cash for some lucky anglers

Local organizations such as the Chautauqua Lake Association continue their extensive lake-stewardship work, while the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance, Chautauqua Lake Partnership, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and others are contributing research, habitat management, monitoring and public education. The county’s annual Chautauqua Lake Symposium also brings these groups, scientists and DEC representatives together to discuss the lake’s future.

Anglers can add another piece to that effort simply by keeping legal-sized, abundant white perch for the table. Remember, white perch are excellent eating.

What about a long-term walleye strategy?

If Chautauqua Lake is going to rebuild its walleye population, there probably won’t be one magic answer. Continued scientific monitoring, protection of spawning and nursery habitat, understanding why reproduction has been poor since 2020, and appropriate stocking or other management measures all deserve consideration. At the same time, encouraging the harvest of abundant white perch by the NYSDEC could become another tool worth measuring.

The key word is measuring. If anglers remove thousands -- or eventually tens of thousands -- of white perch, fisheries managers could and should monitor whether that effort produces measurable improvements in young-of-the-year walleye survival. If it does, perhaps organized harvest events such as Sperry’s White Perch Challenge could become an annual conservation tradition.

The first event has already shown that anglers are willing to participate.

Maybe that’s where the next chapter of Chautauqua Lake’s walleye story begins -- not with eliminating the white perch, but with turning an abundant fish into a fun opportunity for anglers to help their lake. Conservation is sometimes most successful when it starts with a fishing rod in somebody’s hands.

Gotta love the outdoors.

Outdoor Calendar

Aug. 19: 3D Archery, Evans Rod/Gun, 4PM start, $10 fee, 15 targets, free instruction 4 p.m.-6 p.m.; Info-call Jerry Gorski, 716-698-3008.

Aug. 20: Southtowns walleye Association, monthly meeting, 6 p.m. doors open, 5895 Southwestern Blvd, Hamburg,

Aug. 20-22: Turtlebox Bassmaster Open, Buffalo Harbor State Park (Small Boat Harbor, Sunlife Marina), weigh-in open to public; info: 877-227-7872.

Aug. 20-22: CANCELLED. WNY Walleye Association 2026 Fall Tournament, Lake Erie, big fish Friday, and main event Saturday, $275 entry, $125 big fish option. See Facebook for info.

Aug. 22: Chautauqua Lake White Perch Challenge (fishing tournament), Chautauqua Reel Bait & Tackle at Asheville Bay Marina, 25 fish basket, 6 a.m.-12 noon, $20 entry fee, kids under 12 free, shore or boat, see Mike Sperry, call 716-763-2947, register at the bait shop.

Aug. 23: Ellington Rod and Gun, "Don't Know Partner Trap League," 1045 Hagerdon Hill Rd., Ellington; Info: 716-287-3987.