Troy Reservoir Fishing Guide, Rensselaer County, New York

• Overview

  Troy Reservoir is one of the Rensselaer County listings for New York. It sits in mixed forest. At about 52 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. About 1.4 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Some 3.1 miles away sits Waterford, the nearest settlement. Green Island follows at 3.2 miles, then Cohoes at 3.4 miles. A county boundary sits nearby, which can matter for local access rules.

• Where to Fish on Troy Reservoir

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Public occurrence data for Rensselaer County names brown trout, common carp, pumpkinseed and chain pickerel. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Troy Reservoir repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 71°F and January at 21°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice is part of the season here, ending near early April. Averages place the thaw at early April and the freeze at mid December. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. On Troy Reservoir the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. You can park half a mile away and walk in from there. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. The nearest alternative is Bradley Lake, 2.1 miles out. Nothing here settles the position at Troy Reservoir for certain.