Susquehanna River

From its origin at Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, New York, the Susquehanna River flows for over 440 miles, making it the longest river on the American east coast. It eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. In New York the Susquehanna flows through a mix of rural and urban environments within Otsego, Chenango, Broome, and Tioga counties, supporting a diverse warmwater sportfish community.

Access:

Broome County

• Grippen Park- off Route 17C. Hard surface ramp. 10 cars and trailers.
• Harold Moore Park- on Old Vestal Road. Hard surface ramp. 10 cars and trailers.
• Johnson City - under the NYS Route 201 Bridge on the north shore. Hand launching. Parking for 10 cars.
• Sandy Beach Park- Route 7. Hard surface ramp. 8 cars and trailers.
• Leo Schnurbush Park-on Route 17. Hand launch. Parking for 6 cars.
• Kirkwood Park - Route 314 Bridge. Hard surface ramp. 6 cars and trailers.
• Riverside Lane -hard surface ramp and bank fishing, off Riverside Lane in Kirkwood.
• Windsor- off Route 79 near off ramp. Car top launch. 6 cars.
• Ouaquaga - Doolittle Road. Hard surface ramp. 6 cars and trailers.
• Nineveh - on County Route 26, north and east of Nineveh. Concrete ramp. 8 cars and trailers.

For more information on these launches including Google Maps driving directions, visit the Boat Launch Sites for Broome County page.

Chenango County

• Afton - on the northeast end of the NYS Route 41 bridge in the Village of Afton. Gravel ramp. 12 cars and trailers.
• Bainbridge Water Treatment Facility - At water treatment plant off Front Street. Hard surface ramp. 8 cars and trailers.
• Bainbridge Park -downstream of Route 206 bridge. Hard surface ramp. 5 cars and trailers.
• General Clinton Park - hand launch and bank fishing, off Rt. 7 in Village of Bainbridge

For more information on these launches including Google Maps driving directions, visit the Boat Launch Sites for Chenango County page.

Tioga County

• Canon Hole -1.5 miles west of Barton, on Old Barton Rd. Gravel ramp. 8 cars and trailers.
• Barton- off Route 17 in the hamlet of Barton. Hand launching. Parking for 10 cars.
• Nichols (West) - on West River Drive, approximately 4 miles west of the Village of Nichols. Concrete Ramp. 7 cars and trailers.
• Nichols (East) - on East River Drive, 1 mile east of the Village of Nichols. Concrete ramp. 12 cars and trailers.
• Hickories Park- off Route 17C. Hard surface ramp. 6 cars and trailers.
• Marshland Road-off Marshland Road. Hard surface ramp. 10 cars and trailers.
• Apalachin Bridge- between Routes 17C and 434 on the south side of the river. Concrete ramp. 12 cars and trailers.

For more information on these launches including Google Maps driving directions, visit the Boat Launch Sites for Tioga County page.

Otsego County

• Colliersville- along Route 7 just east of the intersection of Routes 7 & 28. Hand launch. 10 cars.
• Crumhorn-off County Road 35 on east side of river between the villages of Portlandville and Milford. Hard surface ramp. 8 cars and trailers, 6 cars.
• Emmons-off County Road 47. Hand launch. 20 cars.
• Oneonta-off route 205 at the westerly city limits of Oneonta. Hand launch. 15 cars and trailers.
• Sidney- on the north bank of river west of the intersection of Route 7 and new Route 8. Hand launch. 30 cars.

For more information on these launches including Google Maps driving directions, visit the Boat Launch Sites for Otsego County page.

Fish Species:

Smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, muskellunge, yellow perch, black crappie, pumpkinseed sunfish, bluegill, rock bass, brown bullhead, channel catfish, common carp, fall fish, and white sucker.

Fishing:

The fishery changes somewhat as you move downstream from Cooperstown. From its origin in Otsego County down to where it first enters Pennsylvania at Broome County, near Great Bend, the fishery is dominated primarily by smallmouth bass and walleye along with rock bass. Yellow perch, sunfish, and bullhead are present but generally not in great numbers. The fishery downstream of Great Bend, PA is more diverse and muskellunge, tiger muskellunge, and channel catfish, along with the other species mentioned above, are much more common, particularly downstream of the junction with the Chenango River.

Smallmouth bass can be caught by drifting live bait, or fishing lures through the head and tail sections of the river's many pools. Naturally colored lures that resemble crayfish or minnows are good choices, but bright colors like chartreuse and fire tiger can also work well at times.

Walleye fishing is generally best in May through June and from late September until the river freezes. One of the most productive methods is to fish the deeper holes with jigs tipped with either a worm or minnow. For muskellunge fish with large baits or lures; don't forget to use a wire leader. Local hot spots include the mouth of the Chenango River, Murphy's Island, Grippen Park, Hiawatha Island, the mouth of Owego Creek, and Baily's Eddy. Catfish can be caught on live or dead baits fished in the deeper holes. Carp can be caught throughout the river.

The river is very susceptible to flooding and moderate to heavy rain events can make navigating and/or fishing the river difficult to impossible.

For current fishing information visit the Central New York Fishing Hotline or by calling 607-753-1551.

Regulations:

Special Fishing Regulations Apply.

Fisheries Management:

The Susquehanna River is not currently being stocked; tiger musky were stocked in the river until 2007.

Fish Survey Report (2009)

Sandy Beach City Park - Bass Monitoring

This survey was conducted in order to compare the abundance of bass relative to past sampling efforts at this site. In addition, we were also looking for any sign of Columnaris bacteria infections in juvenile bass. Three severe flood events since Sept. 2004 along with outbreaks of Columnaris bacteria infections in juvenile smallmouth bass in 2005 and 2007 have raised concerns about the status of the river's bass population. Anglers started reporting poor bass fishing in 2003, but reported better fishing in 2008 and 2009.

The sampling results showed a continued increase in the abundance of legal sized bass compared to the 2005, 2007 and 2008 sampling events, and reasonably high abundance of bass between 6" and 12". Young-of-year (YOY) bass abundance was significantly lower than recent surveys, but this is not surprising given the cool spring/summer temperatures and high river flows. YOY abundance in a July 2009 sampling event also revealed low abundance of YOY bass as did similar sampling conducted by Pennsylvania Fish and Boat biologists. Below is a summary of sampling results for the five years of effort at this site

As in previous years, daytime sampling was conducted with a SmithRoot boat electrofishing unit. River flows and water temperatures were similar to previous years as was amount of sampling effort.

Overall, it appears that subadult and adult smallmouth bass numbers have increased in recent years but they have not yet reached the levels observed in 1993. However, it should be noted that the number of other fish within this sampling site, particularly rock bass, has been noticeably lower. Dozens of quality sized rock bass were captured during the 1993 survey, but only a handful have been captured since. None were captured or observed this year.