There’s no such thing as a scrawny bass at Chautauqua Lake — or if there is, I’ve yet to catch one there.

The chunky bass swimming in the western New York lake are indicative of the health of the fishery all up and down the food chain.

As reported in this column last Sunday, fishing friend Tyler Woak of Niles and I eagerly planned a Chautauqua fishing trip with high hopes of experiencing the thrill of battling big bass. We were not disappointed and during the course of the day, we learned a thing or two about why the lake is so good and saw hints about the fragile balance on which Chautauqua teeters.

Lush vegetation has been a given for anglers and boaters for generations at Chautauqua, the basin of which was gouged by glacial movement thousands of years ago. Native plants took root and flourished, providing the foundation for a food chain that supported apex predators like bass, walleyes, muskies, bald eagles and Native Americans.

Chautauqua became a popular fishing destination as families discovered vacation opportunities following World War II and lakeside communities grew to provide rental lodging and summer homes. Anglers learned to work the great expanses of coontail and other native species like elodea, water lily and large-leaf pondweed that spread from the banks out to the 10-foot breaks and beyond.

While fishing was popular prior to the turn of the century, Chautauqua really gained status among bass anglers as regional tournament organizations started to schedule events on the lake in the late 1990s. On hot summer days, when lakes in nearby Ohio were producing puny limits, Chautauqua kicked out five-bass bags weighing 18 pounds and more.

Muskie anglers also flock to Chautauqua, with specialists like Chris DePaola of Austintown logging impressive catches.

With the influx of anglers dragging weeds on their boat trailers from other lakes (and burgeoning goose populations spreading seeds and shoots), Chautauqua started to morph to larger and lusher weed beds featuring invasive plant species like Eurasian milfoil, hydrilla and curly-leaf pondweed. Another contributing factor is lakeside property owners’ decisions to clear the land-lake boundary vegetation and fertilize to produce thick, green lawns.

Fish, including largemouth and smallmouth bass, love the weeds — native and invasive. But for many people, the weeds are a major aggravation. Many want the weeds eliminated.

During our fishing trip at Chautauqua last weekend, Woak and I saw first-hand the change caused by plant-control measures. Our strategy revolved around Chautauqua bass’s fondness for overhead cover that provides shady coolness during the heat of summer. Bass, largemouths mostly but also a lot of smallmouths, know they can pick off perch and bluegills under the docks.

Woak and I deployed a one-two punch at each dock, one of us skippng a weightless Senko while the other flipped a Texas-rigged beaver-style soft plastic.

Both lures worked equally well, but the tell-tale at each set of docks was the presence of grass. We quickly determined that if a set of docks was free of weeds, we could pull up the Motorguide, fire up the Merc and point the BassCat at another row of docks.

Our hunt-and-peck approach resulted in around 20 bass, all fat, full of fight and proof positive of Chautauqua’s vigorous plant-supported food chain.

While efforts to control the vegetation are necessary to maximize Chautauqua’s appeal for all of its users, it is important that the managers do their job wisely and resist total eradication of the fish-friendly aquatic plants.

Jack Wollitz’s book, “The Common Angler,” is a collection of stories that explain why anglers are passionate about fishing. Send a note to jackbbaass@gmail.com.