Turnpike Pond in Sullivan County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Turnpike Pond sits in Sullivan County, out in New York. It lies 1,204 feet above sea level. With some 48 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 0.9 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Supplies mean a trip to Barryville, 7.3 miles off. It is 61 miles to Paterson, the nearest city. The county line runs close by, so rules can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Turnpike Pond

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Records held for Sullivan County cover brown trout, brook trout, smallmouth bass and white sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Turnpike Pond gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 69°F, while January sits near 23°F. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early April. The season between ice runs from about early April to late December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Turnpike Pond rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. If the gate is shut, Silver Lake at 0.7 miles is the nearest alternative. Check the current arrangement for Turnpike Pond.