Like most anglers, I have a few lakes on my must-fish list every summer, including favorites like Erie, Pymatuning, Mosquito and the Ohio River.

I look forward to every opportunity to test my skills against their bass. Without question, they make my investment in an Ohio fishing license well worth the money.

A dedicated corps of Northeast Ohio bass anglers also pony up every summer for a non-resident New York fishing license just so they can cast for largemouths and smallmouths on western New York’s sprawling Chautauqua Lake.

Just a little more than a two-hour drive from Youngstown and Warren, Chautauqua has been a favorite of mine for more than 20 years, but I missed the boat in 2022 as it was off-limits during my 12-week fishing hiatus following heart surgery.

Hello, Chautauqua, I’m back.

A few weeks back, fishing friend Tyler Woak suggested we tow the BassCat to Chautauqua to do a bit of scouting for a tournament he will fish there later in August. Saturday was our appointed day.

Tyler is a savvy competitor with a keen sense for winning, whether in baseball or bass tournaments. He appreciates the opportunity to visit a tournament lake prior to the start of competition to eliminate unproductive water and gain a sense for what the fishery might offer on game day.

For me, of course, I needed no prodding to hitch up the boat for the drive to Chautauqua. My earliest days fishing there admittedly were a struggle, as I searched through the many variables on the 17-mile-long natural lake. With hundreds of boat docks and thousands of acres of fish-holding vegetation, Chautauqua proved to be a stingy host.

After a couple of days, however, I settled into a rhythm on the big lake and enjoyed pretty good success with the bass. I boated my personal best smallmouth there, a fish well in excess of six pounds, during a practice day for a tournament. I have won two bass tournaments there thanks to five-pound largemouths.

There’s more to Chautauqua than fishing. The sunrises over the rolling hills of western New York are often spectacular. The famous Chautauqua Institution sits on the northwestern shoreline and offers the angler picturesque rows of Victorian buildings, as well as artists, joggers, sun worshippers and people just generally enjoying their vacation days.

You’ll never forget you’re at Chautauqua if you’re within earshot of the iconic bell tower that rings out every 15 minutes. To me, it sounds like it’s time to fish.

Fishing remains my main reason for visiting the lake.

I can count on boating bass doing a range of tried-and-true tactics. I enjoy flipping docks, skipping Senkos and wrestling big fish around posts and ladders.

I can always count on taking advantage of Chautauqua’s morning smallmouth bite by working topwater plugs, and then switching to pitching to weed lines as the sun climbs toward noon.

I know, too, that oversized bigmouths stake claim to the perch-infested shade under the uncountable number of pontoon boats at Chautauqua, and can hardly resist a weightless stick worm skipped into the darkest recesses.

Saturday was my reunion with Chautauqua’s weed lines, boat docks and pontoon flotilla. So how was the fishing? Check this space next week for the scoop on the bass action.

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.