Oneida Lake, located northeast of Syracuse, NY, in Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego counties, is the largest lake entirely within New York State and is believed to be third only to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in the total number of anglers who fish its waters.
The feeds the Oneida River, a tributary of the Oswego River, which flows into Lake Ontario. From the earliest times the lake was part of an important waterway connecting the Atlantic seaboard to the continental interior.
The Lake is 22 miles long and 5 miles wide, encompassing about 51,000 acres with an average depth of 22 feet and a maximum depth of 55 feet.
Walleye are the biggest focus of anglers at Oneida Lake, followed by black bass (smallmouth bass and largemouth bass) and yellow perch. Overall, the lake presents a diversity of fish species including bowfin, freshwater drum, longnose gar, pickerel, northern pike, and a variety of panfish.
In 2021 a 159-pound, 6-foot sturgeon was captured and released in Oneida Lake.
The lake is a popular tournament stop for professional bass fishing organizations. In July 2020, Bassmaster Magazine ranked Oneida Lake 18th in the nation out of the top 25 best bass fishing lakes of the decade.
The Oneida Lake walleye population is intensively managed through annual stockings of walleye fry, management of double-crested cormorants, and angling regulations that are based on annual monitoring of the walleye and yellow perch populations.
Through a long-term collaboration with DEC, Cornell University researchers have been studying and monitoring Oneida Lake’s fisheries annually since 1956.
Walleye adult abundance is currently near the long-term average, and the yellow perch adult abundance is near a record high. Anglers caught over 100,000 walleye from the lake in 2022.
Boat launches are available at Verona Beach State Park, Oneida Shores County Park, Toad Harbor (including a fishing platform), Three Mile Bay, South Shore Boat Launch, Cleveland Dock, Godfrey Point, and Barge Canal Cove Road.
Shore fishing access sites at the west end of the lake are located adjacent to the I-81 crossing; one off Swamp Road in West Monroe and the other off Bartell Road in Brewerton. At the east end access is available along the Sylvan Beach Canal Park.
Mid lake there is a fishing pier at Chapman Park in the Town of Sullivan.
Read more about Oneida Lake’s history and natural history.
Photo: Oneida Lake seen from the Yacht Club in Cicero, NY (courtesy wikimedia user ).
