Kensico Reservoir · Valhalla, NY
The last stop for Catskill and Delaware water before the city. DEP doesn’t post Kensico on its own, so the card shows the whole NYC system and the six reservoirs west of the Hudson that feed it.
Reservoir levels · NYC DEP
The Croton System and the whole NYC system
Croton System: 100.2% of usable storage · whole NYC system 82.2% (normal for the date 75.3%) · DEP, October 22, 2026.
Kensico: DEP doesn’t post Kensico on its own. Its water comes down the aqueducts from the six reservoirs west of the Hudson, the small tanks above. The Croton System tank covers a different set of reservoirs.
The water
Kensico went into service in 1915, made by damming the Bronx River about 3 miles north of White Plains. It holds 30.6 billion gallons when it’s full, which makes it the biggest of my three by volume.
It’s a little over 3 square miles of water, about 150 feet at the deepest, in two parts: a western main basin and the Rye Lake side to the east, with water moving freely between them.
What makes it different: almost none of its water starts here. Its own watershed supplies 2% or less. The rest comes from all six Catskill and Delaware reservoirs, through the aqueducts and under the Hudson, and Kensico is the last stop before Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers. DEP calls it a terminal reservoir.
My take, after fishing it regularly: “kensico is bigger larger fish potential.”
Getting on the water
- A free DEP Access Permit. It lasts five years, and an online application through DEP’s Access Permit system lets you print it right away. Kids 15 and under don’t need one when they’re with a permit holder over 18. Everything else is in the Access Permit FAQs.
- A New York fishing license. DEP’s fishing page requires one along with the permit. You get it from DEC on its fishing license page.
- Steam cleaning, then the boat tag. Every boat, oar, and paddle has to be steam cleaned by a DEP-certified vendor, which removes organisms like zebra mussels. Get the permit first, then call the Mahopac Boat Office at (914) 232-1309 for a steam cleaning and registration appointment. Bring the boat, your permit, and a government-issued photo ID. It’s free, and the tag is good for four years. The boat then stays at Kensico in its assigned storage area. Most East of Hudson reservoirs have at least one closed storage area, with a waiting list. See DEP’s boating page and boat tag FAQs.
- Metal rowboats, no motors. They have to be 11 feet 6 inches to 16 feet long and at least 42 inches wide, with no more than three people aboard unless the capacity plate says more. No motorized boats and no motorized fishing gear. A small sealed 12-volt battery for a fish finder is allowed. Carry one life jacket per person. Anyone under 12 wears it at all times, everyone wears it after sunset, and New York law says wear it from November 1 to May 1. Sources: DEP’s recreation rules and ice and boating fact sheet.
- No ice fishing. DEC and DEP both bar it on Kensico. Boats can go out any time of year while the reservoir is ice-free, which DEP has allowed here since 2010. If the main body has any ice, DEP Police treat the reservoir as closed. Check DEC’s Region 3 special rules and DEP’s ice and boating fact sheet.
- Shore fishing only where posted. DEP allows it at Access Permit Areas, Public Access Areas, and certain Day Use Areas, as its signs and maps show. Kensico Dam Plaza is a county park, and the county says no fishing at the plaza. DEP’s recreation map shows where you can fish, and the recreation rules have the wording.
These rules are DEP’s and DEC’s call, not mine, and they change. Check DEP’s fishing page for closures and DEC’s Region 3 special rules before you go.
What swims here
DEC’s Kensico page and lake map list brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, and panfish. DEC stocks 8,440 brown trout every spring, and a 2010 DEP release says it’s stocked with lake trout too. I couldn’t find a lake trout count.
Lake trout have their own rule here: open all year, 18 inches minimum, 3 a day. That rule is Kensico’s own, from DEC’s Region 3 special rules. Everything else follows DEC’s statewide limits. You can keep bass from June 15 to November 30, 12 inches and up, 5 a day, and it’s catch and release on artificial lures the rest of the year.
DEC’s tips: troll spoons or plugs, use sawbellies, which are alewives, and try different depths.
Walleye, pickerel, pike, crappie, and carp: I couldn’t find a source that puts them in Kensico, so I won’t list them.
How I fish it
I fish Kensico regularly from a DEP-permitted rowboat, and I’m after the same list on all three reservoirs: bass, trout, pike, pickerel, walleye, and whatever bites.
First trip? Here’s what I’d tell you: “Its fishing not catching so stop trying to catch fish and become one with the experience, fish will come to you in due time.”
Skunk Bell
Back from the water? Ring it honest. Landed or skunked, one ring a day. Nobody is keeping score but the bell, and the bell only counts the year.
2026 so far: 5 landed · 1 skunked
Rung. Same bell tomorrow.
You rang today. Tomorrow is another cast.
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