Best Chautauqua Creek Fly Fishing

Near Westfield, the Chautauqua Creek is popular for fly fishing the year-round steelhead, salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout. The creek runs 15 miles from southwest of Mayville on north to the confluence with Lake Erie. The upper section is above the Westfield Water Works dam and runs 7.2 miles of Public Fishing Rights through deep canyon gorge with dense wilderness. For wild brown trout, you'll want to continue futher upstream to the section of Chautauqua Creek along the edge of the western boundry of Chautaugua Gorge State Forest. It is best from April through September.

Below the dam, there is a 1.3 miles catch-and-release stretch and is best from October to April. The lower section from the dam all the way down to Lake Erie is known as Steelhead Alley with plentiful stocked steelhead from 5 to 10 pounds. If you are interested in fly fishing wild brown trout, you may find some of the section of Chautauqua Creek passing the western boundry of Chautauqua Gorge State Forest.

Overall, Chautauqua Creek is the 22nd most popular fly fishing river of all 29 fly fishing spots in New York.