New Croton Reservoir · Yorktown, NY
My weekly water, where all the Croton System’s water comes together. DEP doesn’t post New Croton on its own, so the cards show the Croton System’s storage and live flow on the Croton River below the dam.
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.
New Croton: DEP doesn’t post New Croton on its own. It’s one of the Croton System’s 12 reservoirs, so the Croton System number is the closest read.
Right now · below the New Croton Dam
Croton River at New Croton Dam
227 cfs · above normal for Oct 23 · gauge read 11:45 PM, Oct 22 ET
The water
New Croton is one long, river-like basin, about 9 miles from end to end, running through Cortlandt, Yorktown, Somers, Bedford, and New Castle. DEP puts the surface at 2,153 acres, and it holds 19 billion gallons when it’s full, the most of any reservoir in the Croton System.
It went into service in 1905, made by damming the Croton River. It replaced the old Croton Reservoir from 1842, which was the city’s first upstate water supply.
What makes it different: it’s the last stop. Every other Croton System reservoir, Cross River included, drains through New Croton, and then the water takes the 24-mile New Croton Aqueduct to Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. The gauge on the card sits on the Croton River below the dam, so it reads the river leaving the reservoir. I couldn’t find a public gauge for the lake level itself.
It’s the one I fish every week, and I’ll be straight with you: “Croton is harder to access and find good spots.”
Getting on the water
- A free DEP Access Permit. It’s good for five years, and if you apply online through DEP’s Access Permit system, you can print it right away. Kids 15 and under don’t need one when they’re with a permit holder over 18. The Access Permit FAQs cover the rest.
- A New York fishing license. DEP requires one on top of the permit, per its fishing page, and DEC sells it on its fishing license page.
- Steam cleaning, then the boat tag. Every boat, oar, and paddle gets steam cleaned by a DEP-certified vendor before it goes in. It removes organisms like zebra mussels. With your permit in hand, call the Mahopac Boat Office at (914) 232-1309 to book the steam cleaning and registration, and bring the boat, your permit, and a government-issued photo ID. Both are free, and the tag lasts four years. After that, the boat lives at the reservoir in its assigned storage area. Most East of Hudson reservoirs have at least one closed storage area, with a waiting list. DEP’s boating page and boat tag FAQs have the details.
- Metal rowboats, no motors. From 11 feet 6 inches to 16 feet long, at least 42 inches wide, and no more than three people unless the boat’s capacity plate says more. Motorized boats are out, and so is any motorized fishing gear, though a small sealed 12-volt battery for a fish finder is fine. 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. It’s all in DEP’s recreation rules and its ice and boating fact sheet.
- No ice fishing. DEC and DEP both bar it on New Croton. Boats can go out any time of year while the reservoir is ice-free, but if the main body has any ice, DEP Police treat the reservoir as closed, and you can’t drag a boat over the ice to launch. See 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, and not from road bridges unless DEP posts it. DEP’s recreation map shows the areas, and the recreation rules spell it out.
- Closed water for boats. Stay 500 feet back from buildings and water supply structures, and stay off the islands. DEP’s New Croton map marks the closed zones, including the dam and spillway area at the west end.
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 New Croton page lists largemouth and smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, common carp, yellow perch, white perch, black crappie, brown bullhead, and sunfish. In DEC’s words, “Bass up to 7 pounds and crappies up to 3 pounds are not unusual.” DEC says to work weedbeds, downed trees, and other structure.
Trout are a maybe. A 2010 DEP release says New Croton has brown trout and lake trout, but DEC’s list doesn’t have them today, and I couldn’t find a stocking record, so I won’t promise them. Walleye and northern pike: no source puts them here at all.
New Croton has no special limits, just the permit and the ice ban, so DEC’s statewide limits apply. For bass, you can keep them from June 15 to November 30, 12 inches and up, 5 a day. The rest of the year, it’s catch and release with artificial lures only.
How I fish it
New Croton is my weekly water, fished from a DEP-permitted rowboat. Across my three reservoirs, I’m after bass, trout, pike, pickerel, walleye, and whatever bites.
My go-to setup: “gary yamamoto senko 4″ baby bass green on a EWG Offset Shank.”
The way I see it: “Every day is a good day its about finding joy in nature and the fish come as they come, i catch alot of fish countless bass across westchester.”
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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Throw five on it
