Lake Bonaparte Fishing near Gouverneur, New York

• Overview

  In New York, Lake Bonaparte falls inside Lewis County. It sits at 761 feet above sea level. Surface area runs to roughly 1,416 acres, so plan for one area rather than the whole. Shoreline length is close to 13 miles, and each section fishes a little differently. By surface area it heads our Lewis County listings. You are 13 miles from Gouverneur. Kingston is the closest city, 54 miles away. The line between counties passes nearby, which can change who manages the water.

• Where to Fish on Lake Bonaparte

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Fish documented in Lewis County include white sucker, brown trout, pumpkinseed, brook trout and brown bullhead. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. The near bank of Lake Bonaparte is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 67°F, while January sits near 16°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from mid April. Average temperatures cross freezing around mid April in spring and again near early December in autumn. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. That shapes the year on Lake Bonaparte.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. Being dammed, it draws down in some seasons and fills in others. You can launch from a ramp around half a mile away. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Marsh Pond sits 1.2 miles off and takes the overflow. Treat access at Lake Bonaparte as something to verify.