Fishes Great Sacandaga Lake
Reservoir · Fulton and Saratoga counties on the southern edge of the Adirondack Park · New York
Great Sacandaga Lake Fishing Guides
A twenty-nine-mile flood-control impoundment on the southern rim of the Adirondacks, and the walleye and northern pike destination of eastern New York.
Map of the Great Sacandaga Lake
18 numbered points: 4 access points, 2 campsites, 2 bait & fly shops, 3 outfitters, 1 bridge, 2 parks and conservation areas, 1 agency office, 1 regulation section limit, 1 hazard, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 22, 2026.
- Access / boat ramp (4)
- Campsite (2)
- Bait, tackle & fly shop (2)
- Outfitter / canoe rental (3)
- Bridge crossing (1)
- Park / conservation area (2)
- Agency / conservation office (1)
- Regulation section limit (1)
- Dam / hazard (1)
- USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.
Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
Open the printable mapAll 18 points on this map
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northville Boat Launch NYSDEC · hard-surface ramp, 60 cars and trailers | Access / boat ramp | 43.22910, -74.18703 | At the head of the lake off Route 30 beside Bridge Street, Northville. Accessible, including a fishing pier. DEC's boat-launch GIS layer carries the same site as Sacandaga River State Boat Launch. |
| 2 | Sacandaga River — Bridge St., Northville Upper limit of the DEC special-regulation reach | Regulation section limit | 43.22451, -74.18171 | NYSDEC Region 5 bounds the reach "from Bridge St. in Northville upstream to the first crossing of Rte. 30". Marker sits on the Bridge Street span itself; see DEC for the rules that apply. |
| 3 | Waterfront Park, Northville Village of Northville · lakeshore park | Park / conservation area | 43.22605, -74.17072 | Village park on the Northville arm, a short walk from the state launch. Shore access and parking; no ramp. |
| 4 | Pluchino's Marina 284 Houseman Street, Mayfield · slips, fuel, rentals | Outfitter / canoe rental | 43.19191, -74.17730 | Gas dock seven days in season, pump-out, slips, boat rentals and a ship store whose own list is groceries, beer and ice — no bait or tackle. On the same street as Northampton Beach Campground; no working website of its own. |
| 5 | Northampton Boat Launch NYSDEC · hard-surface ramp, 100 cars and trailers | Access / boat ramp | 43.18616, -74.17298 | The lake's biggest ramp, inside Northampton Beach Campground and Day Use Area. Accessible. Day-use fee in season; open while the campground operates and through the winter to the end of March. |
| 6 | Northampton Beach Campground NYSDEC campground and day-use area | Campsite | 43.18563, -74.17657 | State campground on the west shore carrying the 100-car launch, a swimming beach and a day-use area: 223 sites, 328 Houseman Street, open May 15 to October 12. Article XIV Intensive Use land, DEC-managed. |
| 7 | HRBRRD Sacandaga Field Office 737 Bunker Hill Road, Mayfield · HRBRRD | Agency / conservation office | 43.15948, -74.20455 | The district owns the lake and the state buffer strip around it and runs the GSL Access Permit system, so this is the office to ask about shoreline access. Address confirmed on HRBRRD's own contact page. |
| 8 | Sunset Bay Vacation Resort 353 Paradise Point Road, Mayfield · seasonal RV resort | Campsite | 43.12842, -74.23927 | Privately run RV resort with its own marina, launch, private beach, cafe and stocked trout pond. Seasonal sites rather than a transient campground; season runs May 1 to October 15. |
| 9 | Reets Boatworks & Bayside Marina 275 Lakeside Drive, Mayfield · slips and pontoon rentals | Outfitter / canoe rental | 43.10714, -74.24953 | Wooden-boat building and restoration shop with a marina on the west shore: slips, pontoon rentals and a Freedom Boat Club base. No bait or tackle. |
| 10 | Jim's Bait Shop Second Avenue Extension, Mayfield | Bait, tackle & fly shop | 43.10196, -74.27612 | The lake's one dedicated bait-and-tackle shop, about 1.6 km off the south-west shore. Placed from its own OSM shop node; it has no website, so call ahead for hours before relying on it. |
| 11 | Fuel-n-Food 3006 State Highway 30, Gloversville · gas, groceries, fishing supplies | Bait, tackle & fly shop | 43.07755, -74.26116 | Rte 30 stop on the Mayfield side that carries fishing supplies, posts Lou's Lake Report and runs the annual Walleye Challenge. Open 6am Mon-Sat, 7am Sun. Its own site says fishing supplies, never live bait. |
| 12 | Broadalbin Boat Launch NYSDEC · hard-surface ramp, 60 cars and trailers | Access / boat ramp | 43.10496, -74.17463 | South-east corner of the lake, off County Route 110 about three miles north-east of Broadalbin village. Accessible. |
| 13 | Edinburg Town Park Town of Edinburg · shoreline park | Park / conservation area | 43.20909, -74.08263 | Town park on the east shore just south of the Batchellerville bridge; shore access and parking, no ramp. |
| 14 | Batchellerville Bridge NY 30 · the landmark crossing of the lake | Bridge crossing | 43.21178, -74.08880 | The one span that crosses the open water and the usual way between the east and west shores. Its mapped centre sits offshore because the bridge spans the lake. |
| 15 | Edinburg Marina & Powersports 140 North Shore Road, Northville · pontoon rentals, gas dock | Outfitter / canoe rental | 43.22187, -74.09347 | East-shore marina: outboards, pontoons, trailers, parts, service, a gas dock and pontoon rentals. Its own site itemises the business and lists no bait or tackle. |
| 16 | Town of Day Boat Launch NYSDEC · hard-surface ramp, North Shore Road | Access / boat ramp | 43.27165, -74.05539 | The lake's northern ramp, in Saratoga County off North Shore Road; DEC's GIS layer names it Great Sacandaga Lake Boat Launch. DEC's two own pages give the parking as 40 and as 44 cars and trailers, so treat the figure as about forty. |
| 17 | Conklingville Dam HRBRRD · the dam that made the lake | Dam / hazard | 43.31760, -73.92298 | Earth-and-concrete dam at the outlet into the Sacandaga River, NID NY00146. Keep clear of the dam face and the outlet channel below it. |
| 18 | USGS 01323500 — Great Sacandaga Lake at Conklingville Lake level, updated through the day | USGS gauge | 43.31603, -73.92708 | The lake's USGS gauge, at the dam rather than out on the open water — it reads reservoir elevation, not a river stage. |
Guides on the Great Sacandaga Lake
Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.
Order on this page: premium and outfitter plans first (labelled Premium placement), then claimed free profiles, then unclaimed — one published price, no bidding for position. How placement works
About the Great Sacandaga Lake
The Great Sacandaga Lake was created in 1930 when the Conklingville Dam closed on the Sacandaga River, flooding a long valley on the southern edge of the Adirondack Park. It stretches about twenty-nine miles and covers roughly twenty-six thousand acres at full pool, which makes it one of the largest bodies of water in New York State and by a wide margin the largest in this part of it. It was built for flood control on the Hudson, and it still works that way, which is the single most important thing an angler needs to understand about fishing it.
Water level is managed aggressively. The reservoir is drawn down substantially over the winter and refilled with spring runoff, and the difference between high and low pool can expose or submerge whole flats. Structure that holds walleye in June may be dry ground in March. This is why local knowledge matters more here than on a natural lake: a guide is tracking not only where the fish are but what the reservoir is doing.
Walleye are the primary draw and the reason most guided trips book. The population is strong, fish in the eight-pound class are caught every season, and the fishery works both in open water and hard through the ice. Northern pike are the other signature species, running large in the weedier arms and taking big baits through the winter. Smallmouth bass hold on the rocky points and drop-offs along the main basin, largemouth occupy the shallow bays, and yellow perch and crappie support a very heavy ice-fishing season out of the towns along the shore. Anglers should also know that much of the shoreline is leased rather than publicly owned, administered by the regulating district that operates the reservoir, so parking and bank access are more restricted than the size of the lake suggests.
This water needs a real photo
The photo at the top of this page is not Great Sacandaga Lake.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
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Pool right now
755.09ft NAVD88
- 24 hours-0.05 ft → steady
- For the dateAbout normal for the date
Reading taken 38 min ago at USGS 01323500, GREAT SACANDAGA LAKE AT CONKLINGVILLE NY. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.
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Access
Northampton Beach - a state campground and boat launch on the north shore, the busiest public access.
Broadalbin launch - the south shore ramp, closest to the deeper eastern basin.
Sacandaga Park and Sport Island - shoreline access and small launches on the western arm.
Conklingville Dam area - the deep eastern end and the walleye ground late in the season.
The Sacandaga River inlet at the west end - current and spring staging water.
Mayfield and Vandenburgh Point - rocky structure holding smallmouth bass through the summer.
Gloversville and Northville - the nearest towns for tackle, licenses, lodging and guides.
Seasons
Spring: the walleye opener in early May finds fish near the inlets and on rising water as the reservoir refills.
Summer: walleye move to deeper structure and low-light periods, while smallmouth bass fish well on the rocky points all day.
Fall: drawdown concentrates fish and this is the strongest big-walleye and big-pike stretch of the open-water year.
Winter: a major ice fishery for walleye, northern pike, yellow perch and crappie, with shanty towns on the main bays.
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Questions
What species can you catch on the Great Sacandaga Lake?
Anglers target Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Yellow Perch on the Great Sacandaga Lake in New York.
Are there fishing guides on the Great Sacandaga Lake?
GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Great Sacandaga Lake. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.
Where can you access the Great Sacandaga Lake?
Northampton Beach - a state campground and boat launch on the north shore, the busiest public access. Broadalbin launch - the south shore ramp, closest to the deeper eastern basin. Sacandaga Park and Sport Island - shoreline access and small launches on the western arm. Conklingville Dam area - the deep eastern end and the walleye ground late in the season. The Sacandaga River inlet at the west end - current and spring staging water. Mayfield and Vandenburgh Point - rocky structure holding smallmouth bass through the summer. Gloversville and Northville - the nearest towns for tackle, licenses,...
When is the best time to fish the Great Sacandaga Lake?
Spring: the walleye opener in early May finds fish near the inlets and on rising water as the reservoir refills. Summer: walleye move to deeper structure and low-light periods, while smallmouth bass fish well on the rocky points all day. Fall: drawdown concentrates fish and this is the strongest big-walleye and big-pike stretch of the open-water year. Winter: a major ice fishery for walleye, northern pike, yellow perch and crappie, with shanty towns on the main bays.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Great Sacandaga Lake?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the New York agency site: https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/freshwater-fishing/regulations