spinner rig is fished about 4 inches off the bottom. 
The pole is constantly jiggled to keep the baited 
hook and spinner in a slow, up-and-down motion in 
the water. 
Bluegills may be found anywhere from 5 feet 
to 100 yards off-shore. They seem to prefer hard 
mud bottom, whether it is in the buckbrush, near 
stumps, or in the open water. The successful an- 
glers try various locations and keep hunting until 
they catch a bluegill. They then continue fishing 
the immediate area and are often rewarded for their 
effort, especially if the area proves to be a 
spawning bed. 
In 1950. bluegills formed 20.7 per cent of the 
——— — BLUE oT 
Lake Chautauqua anglers’ catches and, in 1951, 
16.6 per cent, table 2; in 1942, they had comprised 
50.5 per cent of the catch at one boat yard 
(Hansen 1942). 
Too few bluegills were caught in our fall net- 
ting programs to give accurate information 
regarding the size and age distribution of the blue- 
gill population in 1950 and 1951. Fig. 16 suggests 
the presence of a single dominant year-class in the 
lake, but this was not verified by age analyses. 
Sunfishes Other Than Bluegills 
Three kinds of sunfishes other than bluegills 
16 
WATER LEVEL 
FISH PER 2 FISHERMAN-DAYS 
JUNE JULY 
1950 
AUGUST 
) 
WATER LEVEL IN FEET 
AUGUST 
1951 
Fig. 14. -- Weekly average water levels and corresponding average catches of bluegills per 2 fisher- 
man-days at Lake Chautauqua in the late spring and summer months of 1950 and 1951. There appears to 
be no correlation between water levels and rates of catch of bluegills. The peaks of bluegill fishing are 
probably associated with peaks of spawning activity. 
20 
