New York is home to some excellent fishing and there are some outstanding largemouth bass lakes found in this state. You won’t find the number of good bass lakes that you would in states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, but this cold weather state offers anglers some outstanding largemouth bass fishing from late spring through early fall on some large waters such as Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands area.
Learn more about New York’s featured largemouth bass fishing destinations.
| Chautauqua Lake |
| Finger Lakes |
| Lake Champlain |
| Thousand Islands |
Learn More About New York’s Featured Fishing Destinations
Rivers & Lakes
| Allegheny River | Salmon River New York |
| Chautauqua Lake | Susquehanna River Valley |
| Lake Champlain | Upper Delaware River Region |
| Lake Erie | |
Featured Towns & Regions
| Adirondacks | Orleans County, NY |
| Buffalo, NY | Pulaski, NY |
| Catskill Mountains | Rochester, NY |
| Finger Lakes | Roscoe, NY |
| Long Island / Montauk | Steelhead Alley |
| Niagara Falls Region | Thousand Islands |
Adirondacks
The Adirondacks is a huge mountain range that is the largest protected area in the contiguous United States. You have more than 2,000 miles of hiking trails, over 3,000 lakes and ponds as well as 1,200 miles of rivers available for exploring. Because this area is so large with so many different types of waters to fish, anglers can target a variety of different fish such as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, trout, landlocked salmon and more.
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River covers 325 miles and it is a headwater stream of the Ohio River. The Allegheny River is located in Western Pennsylvania and New York. It is a warm water fishery with species such as smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, muskie, catfish, carp and more. This river is considered a very good river for smallmouth bass fishing.
Buffalo, NY
This part of Lake Erie is home to some incredible smallmouth bass fishing. Good numbers of them are available and big fish are here too. Smallmouth bass in the 4 to 5 pound range are fairly common. Lake Erie is loaded with walleye, so if you go out with a charter, you should be able to catch a bunch of nice walleye as well.
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains are located in southeastern part of New York state. This area is known for the Catskill Forest Preserve, which is home to lots of wildlife, ski resorts, miles of hiking trails and some excellent fishing. This area is home to plenty of lakes, rivers, streams and ponds that provide good fishing for a variety of fish species such as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, pickerel, panfish, brown trout, rainbow trout and brook trout.
Chatauqua Lake
Chautauqua Lake is a popular lake for recreation such as boating, sailing, fishing and more. It is a narrow lake that runs 17 miles long. You have several marinas and restaurants in the area. This lake gets quite a bit of boat traffic during the summer.
Chautauqua Lake is known as a quality muskie lake with good numbers of them and some big fish up to and above 50 inches long. If you’re looking to just catch some fish though, it will be much easier to put some largemouth bass in the boat as they are abundant throughout the lake around the weeds and docks. Walleye are here too in good enough numbers to target and many anglers pursue them throughout the fishing season. They are easier to catch for most anglers in the spring and fall, but you can target them down deep in the summer too.
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a group of linear-shaped lakes in the west-central part of Upstate New York. With 11 lakes covering 14 different counties, this region is a major tourist destination. People come here for many different reasons. Fishing and boating are very popular on the lakes, but people also come to the area for the events and festivals, to visit the wineries and to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a huge lake located mostly within the borders of Vermont and New York, but a portion of the lake is also located across the border into Canada. It is a natural, freshwater lake and it is very popular for fishing and boating. Lake Champlain is 100 miles long and 12 miles across at its widest point. The maximum depth is about 400 feet.
The cool waters provide excellent fishing for a variety of species including salmon, lake trout, steelhead, brown trout, perch, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye and northern pike. This is one of the best multi-species lakes with big fish potential in the country.
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is home to some outstanding fishing for walleye, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. It is arguably the greatest place to fish for walleye on the planet right now with huge numbers of quality fish in the lake. The smallmouth bass fishery is outstanding in certain parts of the lake. If you can find the schools of yellow perch, you can run into some huge numbers of jumbo perch as well. Lake Erie is an amazing fishery, so take a look below to learn more about the popular destinations you can visit on the lake.
Long Island, New York
Long Island is an expansive, densely populated island in southeastern New York State, stretching east from New York City. While this area is home to a lot of people, this area can also be outstanding for fishing. Once the striped bass migrate into this area, the fishing takes off and people can be seen taking part in the fun from beaches, rocky shorelines and out in their boats. In this area, striped bass may be king for most anglers, but you can also catch bluefish, blackfish, sea bass, porgies, fluke, tuna, sharks and more.
Niagara Falls Region
The Niagara Region is a popular area due to the Niagara Falls. Visitors view the falls from the New York and Ontario side and it is a pretty cool tourism area. You will find plenty to do here from sightseeing, shops, dining and for the anglers, this is an amazing area to do some fishing.
Orleans County, NY
Orleans County is a county in the western part of the U.S. state of New York. It is sandwiched in between the Niagara Falls Region and Rochester, New York. While there are more tourism activities to do in the nearby regions, Orleans County can hold its own when it comes to its quaint towns and villages, beautiful scenery and its excellent fishing. The salmon and trout fishing is very good out on Lake Ontario and this county is home to a large charter fleet that can help put you on the fish.
Pulaski, NY
Pulaski is a village in Oswego County, New York and it has a population of a little more than 2,300 people. The village lies between the shores of Lake Ontario and the Tug Hill region. This area is famous for the world class salmon and steelhead fishing in the Salmon River. The Salmon River is only 17 miles long, but so many salmon move into this river from Lake Ontario to spawn. This river is stocked heavily with chinook salmon and steelhead to go along with some other species as well. Lake Ontario is also very popular for fishing in this area and you will find plenty of fishing charters that are available out of the Pulaski, New York area.
Rochester, NY
Rochester, New York is a city on Lake Ontario. Rochester is a short drive to the Finger Lakes Region, so you can easily stay in Rochester, but head to your favorite lake for a day on the water. Anglers have a lot of options for fishing this area. Head out onto Lake Ontario for salmon and trout or take a drive to the Finger Lakes to fish for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike and much more.
Roscoe, NY
Roscoe, New York is an awesome fishing destination. Anglers have access to a variety of excellent trout rivers and some reservoirs are in the area as well. Trout are king in this area, so plan on doing a lot of trout fishing while visiting Roscoe, New York. Brown trout and rainbow trout are the primary species of fish here, but walleye, salmon and steelhead are here too.
Salmon River New York
The Salmon River in New York is a famous river known for its world class salmon and steelhead fishing. The Salmon River is only 17 miles long, but so many salmon move into this river from Lake Ontario to spawn. This river is stocked heavily with Chinook Salmon and Steelhead to go along with Coho and Atlantic Salmon as well. It is one of the most popular salmon fishing rivers on the east coast, so don’t plan on having this river all to yourself. Some of the more popular spots will have plenty of anglers fishing right along with you. It is known for good numbers of fish and some very big fish though, so the people that come here to fish are willing to deal with the crowds for a chance at a huge salmon or steelhead.
Steelhead Alley
Steelhead Alley refers to the river tributaries of Lake Erie that are found along Lake Erie’s southern shores. You can access these tributaries in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. In the spring, these states stock these tributaries with one year old steelhead and these fish come back into these tributaries when they reach spawning age. Take a look at the map below to see the tributaries that are home to some excellent steelhead fishing.
Susquehanna River Valley
The Susquehanna Valley is a region of low-lying land that borders the Susquehanna River in the states of Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. The Susquehanna River is a very popular river for outdoor recreation and the fishing can be awesome. The river is famous for its amazing smallmouth bass fishing, but there are other species to target as well. Anglers also catch muskie, northern pike, walleye, perch, crappie, catfish, sunfish, pickerel, American shad and more.
Thousand Islands
The Thousand Islands are a group of over 1,700 islands that straddle the United States – Canada border in the St. Lawrence River. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario and the islands in the United States are located in the state of New York. This area is a popular vacation destination for fishing, boating and camping.
This area is home to some fantastic fishing for a variety of fish including game fish such as northern pike, muskie, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Smallmouth bass do better here than largemouth bass, but there are plenty of places where you can target largemouths and they are under fished here by most anglers. This is big fish country too. If you put in the time, you may find some absolute giants. Big pike, muskie and smallmouth bass are caught here every year.
Upper Delaware River
The Upper Delaware River is one of the best fishing rivers in the northeastern United States. This is a large region to fish that gives anglers a chance to fish for warm water species such as smallmouth bass, walleye, striped bass and also cold water species such as rainbow trout and brown trout.
