Onondaga Lake fishing: Green Sunfish, White Perch

Target species: Green Sunfish, White Perch
Best months: Jul, Aug, Sep for Green Sunfish
Second window: May, Jun, Sep, Oct for White Perch
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Onondaga Lake Marina, Mile 167.18.

The lake

Onondaga Lake covers 2,987 acres in New York, across Onondaga County. It is a lake: 90.4% of it is 65 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 72.8 feet (22.2 m). Our records hold 3 species for this water.

Onondaga Lake Park - 20220506 - 02 - Shoreline looking southeast from Willow Bay.jpg
Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0

Depth: down to 72.8 ft at the deepest measured point

Deepest measured point: 72.8 ft (22.2 m). 90.4% of the water is 65 feet or shallower. We hold 23 depth contours for this water, drawn from 270 soundings.

Onondaga Lake Park - 20220506 - 05 - Shoreline looking northwest from Willow Bay.jpg
Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • 0–5 ft: 15.4% of the water
  • 5–10 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 10–15 ft: 4.6% of the water
  • 15–20 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 20–25 ft: 4% of the water
  • 25–30 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 30–35 ft: 4.4% of the water
  • 35–40 ft: 4.7% of the water
  • 40–45 ft: 5.1% of the water
  • 45–50 ft: 6% of the water
  • 50–55 ft: 7.8% of the water
  • 55–60 ft: 13.8% of the water
  • 60–65 ft: 10.3% of the water
  • 65–69 ft: 9.6% of the water

2 target fish, led by Green Sunfish

  • Green Sunfish — Best months: Jul, Aug, Sep.
  • White Perch — Best months: May, Jun, Sep, Oct.

Also recorded here: Common Carp.

Onondaga Lake Park - 20220506 - 03 - Syracuse skyline from Willow Bay.jpg
Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0

Water and conditions

Water temperature averages 59°F across the year. pH averages 7.8. These readings span 2016–2019. The latest reading is from 2019, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

Monthly average water temperature: Jan 35°F · Feb 35°F · Mar 40°F · Apr 47°F · May 58°F · Jun 64°F · Jul 68°F · Aug 69°F · Sep 65°F · Oct 59°F · Nov 51°F · Dec 38°F

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp and 1 shore access point.

  • Onondaga Lake Marina, Mile 167.18 — Village of Liverpool. phone +1-315-453-6721 · website onondagacountyparks.com/parks/onondaga-lake-park/boat-launchmarina

Shore access for bank fishing

  • Onondaga Lake Access — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. website dec.ny.gov

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

Season by season

  • Winter (Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, 35–40°F) — Steady but no peak: White Perch.
  • Spring (Apr, May, 47–58°F) — Biting: White Perch. Steady but no peak: Green Sunfish.
  • Summer (Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, 64–69°F) — Biting: Green Sunfish, White Perch.
  • Fall (Oct, Nov, 51–59°F) — Biting: White Perch. Steady but no peak: Green Sunfish.

What is hard here

Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish. Winter water drops to 35°F, and the warm-water species stop feeding well before you do.

Where this data comes from

  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: soundings: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.