Best Fishing Spots in New York

New York runs from mapped water within a kilometre of Manhattan to remote Adirondack ponds at 1,325 metres, and the same state licence covers both. The DEC counts more than 7,500 lakes and ponds statewide, along with 70,000 miles of rivers and streams. The four counties holding the most mapped water are all Adirondack: Hamilton, Essex, Herkimer and Franklin, where access is often by trail and dirt road rather than by highway. Hamilton is the least populated county east of the Mississippi and is essentially all forest, lake and mountain. Reservoirs make up a meaningful share here, a legacy of building water supply for New York City in the Catskills. Elevation swings from below sea level to 1,325 metres, so freeze-up can differ by six weeks across the state. The New York list holds 3,420 waters, drawn from 63 counties. Natural lakes dominate the list, followed by reservoirs. Nothing here is larger than Lake Ontario, at some 7,470 sq miles. Depth records put Lake Ontario deepest at some 801 feet. Between 18°F and 67°F is the working range here. Ice-out most often lands around mid April, though the north and south of the state differ. Occurrence records are dominated by pumpkinseed, white sucker, brown trout and yellow perch....