Cayuta Lake Fishing Spot

• County: Schuyler County
• Acreage: 380
• Max Depth: 26'
• Elevation: 1316'
• Last Modified By: kash87 on 03/24/21 07:52 AM
• Ask about Cayuta Lake in our Fishing Forums

Cayuta Lake is a 588-acre glacial lake surrounded by forested hills in the Schuyler County town of Catharine. Locally called Little Lake, Cayuta drains north to south unlike the Finger Lakes, which all drain south to north. The Cayuta outlet--Cayuta Creek--is a broad, slow-moving creek about 40 miles/64.3 kilometers long that eventually drains into the Susquehanna River. For the most part, this creek is too rocky and too shallow to be suitable for kayaking or canoeing. Cayuta Lake has a maximum depth of about 24 ft./7.3 m. Although one of the smaller lakes in the Finger Lakes, Cayuta Lake is relatively clean with a watershed that is highly diverse in plant and animal species. In fact, a rare freshwater sponge has been found in the Cayuta inlet. This sponge is known in no other location other than Siberia and is the only source of food of the spongilla fly. Boating is permitted on the lake. The State of New York owns much of the scrub and swamp around the northern end of the lake and has created a boat launch site, which can be accessed from Cayutaville Road about 250 ft./76 m. east of State Route 228. Swimming is also permitted in the lake, however, there is no specific public beach or supervised swimming area. Like a lot of small lakes, Cayuta freezes over completely in the winter. Ice skating is always possible. Bring a shovel to remove the snow. Cross-country skiing from one end to the other or walking with snowshoes can also be done. You may have competition from some ice racers, though their number seems to be dwindling. These are people who race with cars on the lake. Watch out, there's no speed limit.

Cayuta Lake is a small lake, located in Schuyler County, New York, USA. The lake is within the Town of Catharine and is linked to the Susquehanna River by Cayuta Creek, which flows out the south end of the lake. A major feeder stream for Cayuta Lake is Cayuta Lake Inlet, which enters the lake through a marsh area on the north end. Much of this northern shore of the lake is within the Allen Preserve.