St. Lawrence River Bass Fishing Guide
St. Lawrence Bass Fishing, Season by Season
Fifty miles of the clearest big-fish smallmouth water in North America, from the Thousand Islands out into eastern Lake Ontario. Bassmaster ranked it the best bass fishery in the country in 2024. It takes a hundred pounds over four days to win here, all of it brown fish.
The Best Smallmouth Water in North America
The St. Lawrence River runs out of Lake Ontario along the New York and Ontario border, and the fifty-mile stretch through the Thousand Islands region — plus the eastern end of Lake Ontario itself — is regarded as the premier trophy smallmouth fishery in the United States. Bassmaster ranked it number one in the country in 2024 and number four in 2025.
The numbers are difficult to convey to anyone who has not fished it. A four-day Elite here in 2024 produced Century Club belts for anglers topping a hundred pounds of smallmouth, and more than half the field weighed a limit over twenty pounds on each of the four days. The winner had 102 even. A year earlier the winning weight was 105 pounds, a record twenty-fish all-smallmouth total.
New York's state record smallmouth came from here too — nine pounds, caught in thirty feet of water on a soft plastic during a tournament out of Ogdensburg in September 2024.
The water is exceptionally clear, the current is constant, and the structure is rock, shoals, drop-offs and offshore humps. Round gobies have changed the forage base substantially: predation cut the smallmouth population back, but the fish that survived have grown considerably larger.
Understand the season before you plan anything. The black bass harvest season opens 15 June and runs to 30 November, and unlike much of New York, the St. Lawrence does not permit catch-and-release fishing beforehand. The eastern Lake Ontario counties and parts of the Adirondacks are the same, specifically to protect spawning fish and nest guarders. There is no legal bass fishing here in spring.
One practical warning: wind. Anglers who run out into Lake Ontario are fishing genuinely big water, and fifteen miles an hour makes it uncomfortable. Rough conditions also degrade boat control and sonar, which matters more here than most places because so much of the fishing is done watching a screen.
What It Took to Win Here
Patterns that produced at the highest level on this water, and the baits to fish them with.
Cory Johnston — Eighty Yards of Bottom, Thirty-Three Feet Down
Johnston did not fish the river. All week he made a big run out into Lake Ontario and did nearly all of his work on a single eighty-yard stretch of bottom in thirty-three feet that was loaded with big smallmouth.
The first two days were calm and the fishing was, by his account, fairly easy — 25 pounds on Day 1 and 27-7 on Day 2. Then the wind came up on Days 3 and 4 and roiled the lake badly, wrecking boat control and making presentations difficult. He stayed anyway, because he knew what lived on that spot.
The reason he was so committed is the year before. He had spent too much time in the river on the opening day of the 2023 event and blown his chance, finishing sixth. In 2024 he made the run every morning and did not deviate.
He finished with 102 pounds even and $100,000. Johnston was also the first angler ever to earn a Bassmaster Century Club belt with all smallmouth, weighing 100-5 here in 2022 — a tournament he lost, to a rookie who caught 102-9.
Offshore Rock, Current and Clear Water
Four patterns cover the year, but note the season dates — there is no legal bass fishing here before 15 June. Each card pairs the technique with the baits we'd actually tie on.
Closed — and Worth Understanding Why
There is no bass fishing on the St. Lawrence in spring. Unlike much of New York, this river and the eastern Lake Ontario counties allow no catch-and-release before the 15 June opener, specifically to protect spawning fish and nest guarders. That restriction is a large part of why the fishery is what it is — the spawn happens undisturbed, every year.
The Deep Offshore Game
Summer is the St. Lawrence at its best and when every national event is held. Smallmouth school tightly on offshore structure — shoals, humps, drop-offs and current breaks — typically in twenty to forty feet, feeding on gobies and baitfish swept past by the current. Forward-facing sonar plays an intrinsic role in how this fishery is now fished.
Big Fish, Fewer Boats
Autumn on the St. Lawrence is when the largest individual fish get caught — the state record nine-pounder came in September, in thirty feet of water. Smallmouth feed hard ahead of a hard northern winter and group tightly on the deeper structure. The season runs to 30 November and the last weeks are the quietest.
Closed
The season closes 30 November and northern New York winter does the rest. There is no open-water bass fishing on this river through the winter months, and it is worth planning any trip here around the June-to-November window rather than assuming year-round access as you could on a southern lake.
The St. Lawrence River Access
Waddington is the tournament base, with Whittaker Park the usual launch. Additional access serves the Thousand Islands region at Clayton, Alexandria Bay, Ogdensburg and Massena. Expect to run a long way — the productive water is spread across fifty miles of river plus eastern Lake Ontario.
The Offshore Shoals and Humps
Hard bottom in twenty to forty feet with current moving across it, holding tightly schooled smallmouth. This is where the fishery's reputation comes from and where hundred-pound tournament totals are caught. A single good stretch can carry a four-day event.
Eastern Lake Ontario
The big water beyond the river mouth, and where the 2024 Elite was won on one eighty-yard stretch of bottom. Bigger average fish and less pressure than the river, at the cost of a long run and genuine exposure to wind.
The Thousand Islands Current Breaks
Where the river narrows and pushes past structure, concentrating bait and the smallmouth that follow it. More sheltered than Ontario and fishable when the big water is not.
The St. Lawrence River Bass Fishing FAQ
When does bass season open on the St. Lawrence?
15 June, running to 30 November. Importantly, the St. Lawrence does not allow catch-and-release fishing before the opener — unlike much of New York. The eastern Lake Ontario counties and parts of the Adirondacks are the same. There is no legal bass fishing here in spring.
Why is the St. Lawrence ranked so highly?
Bassmaster put it first in the country in 2024 and fourth in 2025. A four-day Elite here produced multiple hundred-pound all-smallmouth totals, with more than half the field weighing twenty-pound limits every day. No other fishery in the United States produces trophy smallmouth at that rate.
How was the 2024 Elite won?
On a single eighty-yard stretch of bottom in thirty-three feet, out in Lake Ontario rather than in the river. Cory Johnston made the run every morning and stayed through two days of heavy wind that wrecked boat control, because he knew what lived there. He finished with 102 pounds even.
What is the New York state record smallmouth?
Nine pounds, caught from the St. Lawrence River in thirty feet of water on a soft plastic during a tournament out of Ogdensburg in September 2024. It beat the previous record, from Cayuga Lake in 2022, by eight ounces.
What effect did round gobies have?
Predation by gobies cut the smallmouth population back, but the fish that survived have grown considerably larger. Gobies are now a primary forage item, which is part of why bottom-oriented presentations dragged over rock work so well here.
How deep should I fish?
Twenty to forty feet is the working range in summer, on hard bottom with current moving over it. The state record came from thirty. A drop shot accounts for an enormous share of the fish caught on this river.
What baits work best on the St. Lawrence?
A drop shot above all, plus tubes dragged over rock and finesse plastics on offshore structure. Clear water and deep fish mean natural colours and light line. Our full bait lineup covers the range.
Do I need a fishing license?
Yes, a New York fishing license from the Department of Environmental Conservation. Read the season dates carefully for this water — they differ from much of the state and they are enforced.
Drop Shots, Thirty Feet Down
A hundred pounds of smallmouth over four days comes almost entirely from a drop shot worked on hard bottom in deep clear water, often with wind pushing the boat. Level Rods builds spinning models with the sensitivity to feel a goby-eating smallmouth inhale a bait at depth and the backbone to move her off the rock.
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